Kearney, Neb. – Guards Michaela Barry and Grace Barry combined for back-to-back steals and layups to help Nebraska-Kearney rally past short-handed Missouri Western State, 55-49, Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.

UNK (14-3, 6-3) has won six of its last seven and is now 9-0 at home. The Griffons (10-9, 3-7), picked sixth in the MIAA preseason poll, have lost six in a row but two of those came in overtime.

Showing its mettle, the Lopers have trailed in the fourth quarter in seven of its 10 wins over Division II competition. That deficit tonight was nine points with 3:29 to go. In Thursday's 88-79 double overtime win over Northwest Missouri, the Lopers were down 10 at the 4:00 mark.

"Throughout the game, you want to run what's in the game plan. You're playing basketball but you're maybe not being that aggressive. Late in the game, if you're down, you get into that attack, attack, attack mode. That actually helps offense. Now we just have to carry that over into the earlier quarters and we'll be golden," said UNK head coach Carrie Eighmey.

MWSU began the year with 13 players but only six were available tonight. Thus, all five starters went the distance. The Griffs got super performances from post Dossu Ndiaye (14 points and 11 rebounds) and guard Savannah Lentz (21 points and four steals) but were outscored 29-10 in the fourth quarter. UNK was 10 of 12 from the field and 8 of 9 from the line to come back from a deficit as big as 16 points.

"They did a good job in the first half of going from man to zone and sped us up. We were just a little bit out of sync and we weren't making shots. We just needed to calm down," said Eighmey. "It doesn't matter what defense they are in; it's basketball. Slow down, play at our pace, move the ball. We did a better job of that in the second half."

A three from guard Melia Richardson made it 47-38 Griffs at the 3:29 mark. UNK went on a 9-0 run with a Grace Barry (Lincoln East) steal and subsequent layup by Michaela Barry (Battle) tying things up with 1:01 to play. Not surprisingly, UNK slapped on some full-court pressure at the end.

About 16 seconds after Michaela's layup, Grace followed suit after a steal by her backcourt mate. It marked the Lopers first lead since early in the first quarter.

"That's our kids just making plays. They are tough and competitive and they knew we had to make something happen in order to give us another possession," said Eighmey.

An athletic six-two post from Senegal who caused problems all night, Ndiaye was fouled with 27 seconds left but missed both free throws. Kearney went 6 of 6 at the line to complete its scoring. In the final 3:29, MWSU committed five of its 19 turnovers with each one leading to UNK points (11 in all).

"In the fourth quarter, we got some transition opportunities which we hadn't been able to do earlier. They went man late, which most teams do, and that actually helped us. We were able to get in to our normal offensive flow," said Eighmey.

Mo West led for 32 minutes thanks to an offense that ran the shot clock down on each possession and a series of different defenses. A 2-3 zone gave UNK fits most of the night, leading to 15 turnovers and around 35 percent shooting.

Michaela Barry paced UNK once again, going for 18 points on 7 of 16 (2 of 6 threes) shooting). In the paint, Humphrey graduate transfer Alyssa Frauendorfer tallied 14 points, five rebounds (four offensive), four assists and three steals with senior McKenzie Brown (G.I. Northwest) at nine points and six boards.

For a second straight game, the Lopers got big performances off its bench. Guard Kyleigh Vaught (Smithton, Ill.) played most of the fourth quarter and tallied five points with Grace Barry having three assists, two steals and those two big go-ahead points.

"This team is committed to each other and has a desire to win and do well," said Eighmey. "They are having fun."

UNK heads to Lindenwood (Thurs.) and Lincoln (Sat.) next weekend. These are the only games vs. the Lions and Blue Tigers this season.