By CONNOR GRAY, Assistant Editor
The Northwestern women’s basketball team finished the regular season with a 15-13 record and sixth place in the conference.
Northwestern had its last two games against Southern Nazarene at home and Southeastern on the road.
Southern Nazarene was trying to lock up the second seed while Southeastern needed a win to clinch the eighth seed.
The Rangers first played Southern Nazarene, and the first quarter determined the result of the game.
Last time they met was Dec. 11 in which the Rangers lost, 69-37.
The first quarter was a bad start for the Lady Rangers, as the Crimson Storm raced out to a 28-11 lead, and it was a struggle to get back in the game.
The Lady Rangers outscored Southern Nazarene in the third quarter and tried to make a comeback in the fourth, but the damage occurred early enough in the game for it to not matter.
The Lady Rangers lost, 68-48.
“We got to handle the ball a lot better,” head coach Tasha Diesselhorst said. “They were killers early on, not having enough possessions offensively hurt us.”
Scout Frame and Bailey Brown had 22 and 16 points respectively while the rest of the team struggled to get baskets.
“Give them credit for shooting well, you have to be willing to withstand that on your end so it’s not much of a turnaround in the second half,” Diesselhorst said.
The Lady Rangers then turned their sight to Southeastern as the Savage Storm as the last time they played the team won, 71-68, on Dec.18
“It’s been two months since we played them, so they are different from when we played them last time,” Diesselhorst said.
The Savage Storm outplayed the Lady Rangers as their perimeter and outside shooting was a key factor for winning, shooting 56% from the field.
The result was 85-54 win for Southeastern.
Scout Frame had a low scoring game with only having five points.
Kinsey Neiderer led the Lady Rangers in scoring with 17, while Brown chipped in with 12.
The Lady Rangers will play Harding who the Rangers split the regular season with, Friday at 8 p.m. at FireLake Arena in Shawnee.