By RYAN SHUMAKER
Sports Editor
The Ranger women’s basketball team put themselves in a position to win again over the weekend but ended up dropping all three contests.
Thursday night the Rangers welcomed Southern Nazarene to Percefull Fieldhouse and lost 71-65, despite junior Kamera Bozeman’s 20 point and 5 rebound effort.
The Black-and-Red started out strong and only trailed the Crimson Storm by two at the end of the first quarter. A 10-2 run midway through the second quarter gained the Rangers the lead before Wichita, Kan., native Relina Johnson hit a three-point bucket with four seconds left in the half to give the Rangers a 30-24 half-time lead.
The Rangers extended their lead to eight points in the third quarter before the Crimson Storm outscored the Rangers 31-15 in the third quarter to finish the quarter with a 55-45 lead.
The Storm switched to a full-court press early in the third quarter and the Rangers found it difficult to get any offense going, although they made it to the free throw lane quite often but were unable to shoot well from the charity stripe all game, shooting only 45.5 percent in the second half.
Saturday the Rangers travelled down to Durant, Okla. to take on the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The Rangers lost 73-44 and only shot 19.1 percent from the field for the entire game. The Rangers only made eight shots and two free throws in the first half.
Freshman Jakeria Otey led the Rangers with 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. Another freshman, Deja Beechum, also provided a solid effort for the Rangers with nine rebounds, eight points and one assist.
On big Monday in Percefull Fieldhouse the Rangers failed to hang onto another half-time lead and lost to arch rival Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 79-65.
The Rangers shot 39 percent from the field in the first half and kept the Bulldogs to just 27 percent from behind the three-point line. Johnson came out on fire in the rivalry game, scoring 12 points in the first half, all of them three pointers.
The second half was a different story as the Bulldogs shot nearly 50 percent from the field, while the Rangers couldn’t keep up yet again with a second half offensive explosion.
Johnson, Bozeman, and point guard Ashley Pride all reached double digits on the afternoon while guard Renee Contreras made multiple hustle plays, running all over the court on defense, to earn 37 minutes of playing time.
The Rangers remain winless in conference and only have four games to earn their first win. The Rangers are eliminated from post season contention and look to find their first win at home Thursday night at 5:30 P.M., when they welcome the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist to Alva.