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The MSU Lady Bears set a school record with 68 rebounds and came back from trailing three times to beat Northern Kentucky 70-67 Saturday afternoon at JQH Arena.

Whitney Edie scored 22 points and hauled in 16 rebounds for her fourth straight double-double. She also had five steals. Redshirt freshman Kenzie Williams finished with14 points.

Rianna Gayheart led four Northern Kentucky players in double figures with 18 points.

Missouri State jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but the Norse wouldn't let them pull away, keeping the game within a five point margin for most of the first half as the Lady Bears carried a 30-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Northern Kentucky quickly tied it 30-30 then took the lead on a shot by Melody Doss with 17:13 left in regulation.

After MSU regained the lead,36-34, on Hannah Wilkerson's jumper with 14:07 remaining, the Norse, playing their first season in NCAA Division I basketball, stormed back to grab the lead again on Kayla Thacker's free throws with 12:27 to play.

Northern Kentucky managed to extend its lead to nine points, 55-46, with 7:46 to play when Gayheart hit her second three pointer of the game.

But for the second game in a row, back came the Lady Bears. Wilkerson's layup with 4:56 to play capped a 10-3 run that pulled Missouri State within two, 58-56.

Edie put MSU ahead 60-58 with a shot at the 3:58 mark, and after a three pointer that temporarily gave the Norse a lead, Williams put the Lady Bears back on top 64-61 with her second three pointer of the afternoon.

The Norse tied it 64-64 on Jamie Hamlet's three pointer with 2:47 remaining, but Bry Snow's shot with 2:29 to play but MSU head to stay, 66-64.

Of the Lady Bears 68 rebounds, 35 were on the offensive boards, and really helped make up for a poor team shooting performance (31.6%). MSU was cold from beyond the arc as well, hitting just three of 12 attempts.

MSU Head Coach Nyla Milleson says it was another great effort for her team coming down the stretch. "It was the first game in seven that we haven't shot 40 percent," Milleson said. "I thought at times our immaturity showed." 

Milleson says Edie is firing on all cylinders."She's just really playing well right now. She's playing with a broken nose. We just need her to be more of a vocal leader." 

But the coach says there's no question that Williams, an underclassmen, is providing some of that leadership. "Right now, this team needs to be Kenzie's in terms of leadership." 

Missouri State (5-2) will travel to Columbia to play the Missouri Tigers Thursday night at 7:00.

Game Notes: 

The Lady Bears 68 rebounds also broke a Missouri Valley Conference record. The previous mark was 67 by the Evansville Aces, who did it against Creighton on March 5th, 2005.

The previous Missouri State record of 66 rebounds came in a game against Harding University at Hammons Student Center on November 26th, 1984.