The William Jewell women's basketball team held Northwest Missouri State scoreless over the final five and half minutes to down the Bearcats 67-43 on Friday in St. Joseph, Missouri. The win in the opening round of the Fairfield Inn Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by Missouri Western, moves the Cardinals to 2-2 on the season while Northwest Missouri drops to 1-4. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• 1st Quarter: The Cardinals opened the game on a 7-0 run, capped by a three from Antoinette Mussorici. Northwest Missouri closed the gap late in the quarter, but Jewell held a 13-10 advantage after 10 minutes. 
• 2nd Quarter: The Bearcats took a short lead at 18-16 before Jewell closed the opening half on a 15-4 run, led by eight points from Mussorici, to hold a 31-22 lead at the break. 
• 3rd Quarter: A jumper by Mussorici at the 5:32 mark of the third quarter gave the Cardinals their biggest lead of the night at 43-26. The Bearcats closed the frame on an 8-2 run to pull with 11 heading into the finale 10 minutes. 
• 4th Quarter: A jumper from Northwest's Jaelyn Haggard cut the Cardinal to just nine at 52-43 but that would be the final bucket by the Bearcats as the Cards closed the game on a 15-0 run, capped by a three from Kayla Harrell with just 18 seconds remaining. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Cardinals shot 44 percent from the field while holding Northwest Missouri to just 35 percent. 
• Jewell forced 16 turnovers which led to 17 points. 
• The Cards owned the paint outscoring the Bearcats 38-14 and pulling down 14 offensive boards. 

LEADERS OF THE FLIGHT

• Scoring: Mussorici (20), Harrell (13), Sydney Offield (12), Kiara Bradley (12)
• Rebounding: Bradley (7), Offield (7)
• Assists: Harrell (3), Bradley (3)
• Steals: Bradley (3)

UP NEXT
Jewell wraps up the Fairfield Inn Thanksgiving Classic with a matchup with the host Griffons at 5 p.m. on Saturday.