Maryville, Mo. –  The Missouri Southern women's basketball team took a one-point lead into the second quarter, but could not hang on as the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats secured a 79-73 victory inside Bearcat Arena Saturday afternoon.

The Lions (11-14, 8-9 MIAA) received a team-high 28 points and eight rebounds from junior forward Desirea Buerge, while junior guards Chelsey Henry and Dru Clark combined for 24 points and 12 rebounds (six each) for the Lions.

Northwest Missouri (4-21, 3-14 MIAA) was led by Jaelyn Haggard with 21 points in the winning effort. Tanya Meyer fell one rebound short of a double-double, recording 19 points and nine rebounds.

Out of the gate, MSSU went up 4-0 and held the lead for a 16-15 advantage heading into the second quarter. NWMSU led the second off on a 10-5 run and ended on a 6-2 spurt to lead 36-35 at halftime.

Southern responded to go back up by four (42-38) at the 7:11 mark of the third quarter. The Bearcats answered with a 10-2 output and did not relinquish their lead for the rest of the game.

Southern returns home to take on Pittsburg State on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 5:30 pm as part of Senior Day and the last regular-season home contest of the year.