The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team fell short in their upset bid over No. 8 Central Missouri Saturday as they fell 67-62.

The Bearcats came out on fire in the first half jumping out to a 14-9 lead in the first five minutes. UCM went on top with 12 minutes to play and went into halftime holding a slim three point lead, 38-35.

Ariel Easton led all scorers in the first half with 12 points as she went 4 for 5 from behind the three point line. Northwest as team shot 58% from three point land as they went 7 for 12.

The UCM defense held the Bearcats to only two points in the first nine minutes of the second half, but Northwest refused to go away and tied it up 47-47 with 7:30 left to play.

It was a back and forth battle in the final minutes of the contest, as the Bearcats took a 54-52 lead with five minutes to play. A lead changed with 3:02 on the clock put UCM back up by two.

Ashleigh Nelson was able to get her team back to within one as she knocked home two foul shots with 1:27 remaining. That was as close as Northwest would get as UCM pulled away in the final minute to claim the 67-62 victory.

Easton would finish with a game high 22 points as she added two rebounds and two steals to her totals.

Annie Mathews and Ashleigh Nelson finished with 14 points and 11 points respectively. Monique Stevens posted nine points to go along with four rebounds and a team high five assists.

The Bearcats move to 5-11, 2-7 on the season and will play host to Missouri Southern Wednesday. Tip-off at Bearcat Arena is scheduled for 5:30 pm.

— Northwest Sports Information —