Abby Henry scored a season-high 30 points and went 17-of-20 from the free throw line as Northwest defeated the Southwest Baptist Bearcats (5-9, 1-8 MIAA) 79-68 Saturday afternoon in Bearcat Arena.  Henry also added four assists in the win.

After a back-and-forth first half that featured five ties and six lead changes Northwest (4-12, 2-7 MIAA) found themselves up by one at the half, 36-35.

Northwest never trailed in the second half and was finally able to break-away from the “purple” Bearcats at the 9:19 mark off of three-point shot by Ashley Thayer that put Northwest up 54-46.

Northwest would hold their largest lead of the game at the 3:30 mark when Henry hit a jumper to put Northwest up 72-52.

Henry would go 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to seal the victory for the Bearcats.

Northwest shot 45.6 percent from the field and 84.6 percent from the charity stripe while Southwest Baptist shot just over 44 percent from the field, but only 60.0 percent from the free throw line.

The Bearcats forced 23 turnovers while only committing twelve, and outscored Southwest Baptist 31-13 off of turnovers.

The Northwest bench also outscored SBU off the bench 38-25 with Ashley Thayer and Emily Hauder chipping in 12 points each off the bench for Northwest.

The Bearcat defense was able to hold Southwest Baptist’s leading scorer Brittney Dukes to nine points while Jacqui Zelenka led them offensively scoring 15.

Up Next:  Northwest continues MIAA action as the travel to Missouri Southern Wednesday, Jan. 18.  Tip-off from Joplin is set for 5:30 p.m.

— NWMSU Sports Information —