MARYVILLE, Mo. (Dec. 17, 2025) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team began its holiday break with an exhibition game on Wednesday night at Division II Northwest Missouri State, and it took until the fourth quarter for the Bearcats to pull away en route to a 90-63 victory.

The game was tied at 15-15 in the first quarter when the Bearcats rolled off 10 straight points for a 25-15 cushion with four minutes to go. BVU scored five straight to cut the deficit in half, but Northwest would end the quarter strong and led 36-24. Both teams shot under 30 percent from the field in the second quarter as the game was back-and-forth. The Beavers cut the lead down to nine in the first two minutes, but the Bearcats pushed it back to 17 just two minutes later and led by that same margin at the half.

BVU had its best quarter of the game in the third when it made eight field goals and shot 60 percent from the field. The Bearcats started the quarter by extending their lead to as much as 23 at 58-35, and that's when the Beavers caught fire. Freshman Maddy Raveling drilled a three-pointer that sparked a 9-0 run to get the team back within 14 with just over four minutes left in the quarter. Northwest went on a slight run before BVU again responded, and later in the quarter got a three-pointer from junior Mary Walker that cut the deficit down to 11. The Bearcats came right back with a three-pointer of their own inside the final minute that gave them a 68-54 lead going to the fourth.

It was still a 14-point margin midway through the period, but the Beavers were held scoreless over the final 5:25 as the Bearcats scored the final 13 points to secure the win.

Walker finished with 17 points to help pace BVU with Yanga and sophomore Tyme Boettcher adding 10. Freshman Adriana Howard chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Bradi Krager was held to only five points, but grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked three shots.

Buena Vista finished the game shooting 42.1 percent from the field, made 9-of-26 from downtown and was 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

The Bearcats (9-3) had five players score in double figures and were led by Bailey Birmingham's 19.

Next up for the Beavers (4-6) will be a trip to Daytona Beach, Fla. for a pair of non-conference games. The first of those is on Saturday, Dec. 20, against Alma College at 6 p.m. (ET; 5 p.m. CT).