By OAKLEE FIELDER
The Lady Rangers defeated the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Bulldogs 69-56 on Thursday in the home rivalry game at Percefull Fieldhouse.
The nationally ranked number 25 Lady Rangers entered the game 13-3 overall, looking for another win to boost their ranking. They sat 2nd in the Great American Conference standings, just under Arkansas Tech University, who they play next on their schedule after Southwestern and Harding.
The Bulldogs started in the lead, scoring a tip-in and a layup. NWOSU responded with a three-pointer from Catyn Graham. Conley Cayot then shot a field goal, followed by a three-pointer from Kennedy Hight. SWOSU responded by going on a run and taking the lead by six. The Lady Rangers battled back and were able to take the lead right back. At the end of the quarter, Hight hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Northwestern the lead by four.
After the boost in momentum, the Lady Rangers went on a run to earn themselves a lead of 14. The Bulldogs responded with a three-pointer, but it was taken back as the Lady Rangers got their lead right back and then extended it to 16 with three minutes left in the half. Before the half ended, the Bulldogs cut the Lady Rangers’ lead to 11.
The two teams were dead even throughout the third quarter. Every time the Bulldogs would cut the Lady Rangers’ lead, Northwestern would fight right back and get it right back. Towards the end of the quarter, the Bulldogs got the Lady Rangers’ lead into the single digits, but Northwestern fought back and ended the quarter up by 10.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs were aggressive and battled hard. They were able to make it a two-possession game with just over halfway until the game ended. Although the Bulldogs were the more aggressive team to start the quarter, the Lady Rangers didn’t give up, and they held onto their lead, never getting within touching distance of Southwestern. They avoided the Bulldogs’ attempt at the hack-a-Shaq, a tactic of purposely fouling to manage time and lower the opponents’ scoring chances.
After defeating the Bulldogs, the Lady Rangers jumped up a spot in the national rankings and are now ranked number 24 in the country in division two play.
Kira Bass and Cayot both made six field goals throughout the night. Bass made eight free throws and had a total of 20 points against the Bulldogs. Bass also had the most blocks with four. Hight and Summya Adigun had the most steals with three apiece. Graham had the most three-pointers out of the Lady Rangers with three.
The Lady Rangers sit second in the GAC standings, underneath Arkansas Tech and above Harding University. The Golden Suns and the Lady Rangers have the same conference record, but Arkansas Tech has the best overall win percentage, so they sit at the top.
Northwestern currently has the best defense in the game, averaging only 54.4 points against them a game. They are also one of the cleanest teams in the conference, only having 249 free throws attempted against them.
Bass is third in scoring leaders in the conference; she has a total of 318 points scored and an average of 18.7 points per game.
According to the Great American Conference, Northwestern has the largest attendance out of the whole conference, with an average of 733 people attending home games, which is almost 300 more than any other team.
Their next games are against Harding University on Thursday, and then they face Arkansas Tech University on Saturday. Both games will be at home, and both will be incredibly important at the end of the season when it comes time to decided the seeding for the GAC playoffs.