Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team battled with the Bearcats of Northwest Missouri on Tuesday night, dropping the contest 61-75. The Bearcats had three play in double-figures in the loss.

Both Bearcat squads played an even first half, with Northwest Missouri taking a slight one point advantage going into halftime, up 33-32. Northwest Missouri came out strong in the second half, building thier lead to 19 points, before Southwest Baptist started to battle back. Southwest Baptist cut the lead down to six, but were unable to finish off the comeback as Northwest Missouri hit clutch free throws down the stretch to go on to the 75-61 victory.

Jacqui Zelenka played a solid game for SBU, scoring 12 points off of 6 of 11 shooting from the field while grabbing 8 rebounds. Brittney Dukes was the Bearcats leading scorer, giving SBU 14 points, and Tanis Spani added 11 points and 5 rebounds. LaKendra Smith continues to give the Bearcats solid rebounds, grabbing 10 boards to go along with her 7 points.

As a team the Bearcats shot 31.3% from the field, 16.7% from beyond the arc, and 70.8% from the free throw line. SBU grabbed 19 offense rebounds, helping them to out-rebound Northwest Missouri 43-41. SBU forced 12 Northwest Missouri turnovers and also had 4 blocks.

The Bearcats will conclude the regular season at Missouri Western on Saturday, February 25. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. from St. Joseph, Missouri.