Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist Bearcat women ended their season with a great win against Missouri Western, 70-62 tonight in Bolivar.  "Their effort was unbelievable from start to finish, and I thought the played extremely hard" head coach J.C. Carter stated about his team.

Senior Ashleigh Gallio lead the Bearcats in her final game as a Bearcat, scoring 21 points and dishing out a game high 8 assists.  Gallio was also perfect from the free throw line, going 10-10.  The Bearcat seniors scored almost 50% of the team's points with Whitney Malone posting 8 points, and Courtney Heady scoring 9 points.  "You can't say enough about these seniors," coach Carter said.  "They finished strong and played with a lot of pride.  They didn't deserve anything short of coming out of this game with a win."

The Bearcats also had stellar performances by freshman Jacqui Zelenka and junior LaKendra Smith.  Smith posted her fifth consecutive game of scoring in double digits, scoring 16 points and grabbing 8 rebounds.  Zelenka was solid in limited minutes, scoring 14 points in only 19 minutes played.  "Jacqui is a very skilled basketball player, and Smith is playing her best basketball right now," coach Carter said.

As a team, the Bearcats shot 43.3% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc, and 85.7% from the stripe.  The Bearcats finished their season on a strong note, with a large amount of talent returning next year.  The Bearcats look poised to have a great 2011-2012 season.