A tough brand of in your face defense opened the Mark Kellogg era for the Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team. However, a hot second half from NCAA Division I Iowa State pushed the Cyclones past the Bearcats 80-33 in exhibition action from Hilton Coliseum.

Northwest jumped out to a hounding full-court press, catching the Cyclones off guard to start the game. The Bearcats would keep the game within 10 points most of the first half until Iowa State’s 7-0 run to end the first half and push the lead to 30-11 at intermission.

Led by 6’7” WNBA prospect, Anna Prins, the Cyclones exploded in the second half to shoot over 60 percent from the field as Northwest struggled offensively shooting just 20 percent for the game. Prins finished with 11 points as Chelsea Poppens lead all players with 22.

The Bearcats were led by Victoria Naylor who finished with seven points and made one of the Bearcats four three-pointers. Northwest was just 4-of-26 from behind the three-point arc in the loss.

In all, every Bearcat saw minutes in the season’s first exhibition action with nine different players scoring for Northwest.

Northwest also shot well from the free-throw line finishing 7-of-10. Both Ashleigh Nelson and Denise McEnaney were perfect from the line as Nelson finished 2-for-2 and McEnaney went 4-for-4.

Northwest continues exhibition action as they host Peru State to close out Homecoming weekend Saturday evening. Admission for all fans is free as the Mark Kellogg era debuts at Bearcat Arena. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —