By RANGER ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
The Northwestern Oklahoma State women’s basketball team lost a heart-breaking 79-78 contest at the hands of Harding University after the Lady Bisons hit two free throws with just two seconds remaining in the game.
Northwestern trailed by a point with just eight seconds remaining in the game before a costly foul by junior Deja Beechum sent Harding›s Carissa Caples to the line where she hit both free throw attempts to give the Lady Bisons a one-point victory.
A game that featured over 50 combined fouls and 78 free throw attempts for each team proved to be a physical and competitive contest. Freshman Kinsey Neidererscored a team-high 20 points on 5-of-11 shots from the field to lead the way for Northwestern. Fellow freshman Destinee Robinson followed up her impressive performance on Thursday night with 16 points that included three key late free throw makes late in the game.
Neiderer put the first points on the board with a jump shot from the free point line at the 6:41 mark of the first quarter to answer eight straight points to start out the contest by the Lady Bisons. Three consecutive three pointers by the Lady Rangers gave them their first lead at the 4:04 mark of the opening quarter, 11-9.
Five more points from Northwestern established their opening quarter lead at 16-12. The Lady Rangers connected on 6-of-14 shots from the field in the opening quarter while limiting Harding to just 4-of-10 from the floor. The Lady Ranger defense also forced seven Harding turnovers in the first quarter alone.
Both teams picked up the pace on the offensive side of the ball in the opening minutes of the second quarter, pushing the score to 27-19 in favor of the Lady Rangers after a Jakeria Otey three-point make at the 5:47 mark forced a Harding timeout. Northwestern extended their lead by as many as 11 with a 36-24 lead at the 1:51 mark before taking a 36-29 advantage into the halftime break.
Harding worked their way back into the ballgame with a 10-2 run that began at the 5:34 mark of the third quarter and narrowed their deficit down to just six points at 50-44. The Lady Bisons picked up the defensive intensity throughout the closing minutes of the third quarter and forced the Lady Rangers into some tough shots in order to get themselves back to within a single-digit deficit.
Both teams alternated points down the closing stretch of the third quarter before two free throw makes by Neiderer gave the Lady Rangers a 60-53 advantage heading into the fourth and final quarter.
An 8-4 run for Harding brought the ballgame down to a one-possession affair with the score at 64-60 with 7:13 remaining in the game. Four Lady Rangers fouled out of the game prior to the 5:23 mark of the fourth quarter during a game in which both teams struggled to not commit fouls on both ends of the floor.
Seven Harding free throws over the stretch of the three minutes leading up to the 4:51 mark brought them back to within just two points at 67-65. A lay-up underneath the glass from Harding gave them their first lead of the game since midway through the first quarter at 70-69 with 3:09 remaining in the game.
Jones finished off a three-point play after a lay-up with 2:09 remaining in the contest to tie the game back up at 72-72. Neiderer became the fifth Lady Ranger to reach her fifth foul of the contest just seconds later and allowed Harding to sink one of two free throws to take a one-point advantage.
Harding took advantage of a blocked Jones’ shot attempt and once again used a lay-up underneath the glass to extend their lead to 75-72 with 1:33 remaining. After Jones drew a foul and connected on one-of-two from the line, Harding made both ensuing free throw attempts after the Lady Rangers foul to give themselves a 77-73 advantage with 20 seconds left on the clock.
After a long possession in which Northwestern failed to get a good look at the basket down four points, freshman Destinee Robinson pulled up from three-point range and was fouled with nine seconds remaining in the game. The Lady Rangers sent Harding back to the line after Robinson sunk all three free throws and was given a chance to take the advantage after both free throws were missed.
Jones dribbled underneath the basket and made a nice move underneath to lay-in a contested shot to put the Lady Rangers ahead 78-77 with just eight seconds remaining in the game. Junior Deja Beechum fouled on the in-bound pass and allowed Harding to sink both free throws to escape with the 79-78 victory.
Jones had nine points and seven attempts for the game while freshman Selena McDonald led the way with four rebounds.
