By CAMERON GORDON, Student Reporter
Northwestern’s basketball teams finished their seasons on March 1 after losing in the first round of the Great American Conference Championship tournament.
The men and women both fell to East Central University in the first round of the tournament. The Lady Rangers lost to the Tigers, 62 – 58. The Rangers lost 81 – 56.
All member institutions of the conference were going to be playing in the conference tournament, Great American Conference officials said in a release on the conference website on Jan. 6.
For Coach Vinay Patel, this was his first time playing in the conference tournament.
The Rangers were losing by two points going into halftime, with a score of 27 – 29. But the team allowed the Tigers to score 52 points in the second half.
“In the second half, we came out a little stagnant,” starting center Bubba Furlong said. “It was partly because the team went to a zone and it threw us off a bit.”
The Ranger’s field goal percentage was 40.4% on the game. They made three out of 16 three-pointers.
The men finished the season with a record of 3-12 on the year, winning only one game in the conference against Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Feb. 25.
“A lot of adversity this season, I feel like we handled it great,” Furlong said.
“We didn’t win a lot of games, but we were in a lot of games we could have won.”
The Rangers led the Great American Conference in blocked shots per game.
Furlong led the conference in blocked shots per game with 2.1 through 15 games.
On the women’s side, Coach Tasha Diesselhorst led the team to its second Great American Conference Championship tournament. Their last conference tournament appearance was in March 2019.
The women finished the first half of the game winning 31 – 20. The Tigers came out and 24 points in the 3rd quarter alone, helping them win the game.
The Lady Rangers shot 36.0% in the field and knocked down nine 3-pointers. It was not enough though because the Tigers offense shot 53.8% in the second half of the game.
Bailey Brown recorded a double-double by scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Scout Frame followed her in the scoring statistic, giving the Lady Rangers 14 points.
“We played a really tough three quarters,” Frame said. “We were playing aggressive basketball, even if shots weren’t falling. We were getting all the things that you can just work hard for.”
The Lady Rangers finished the season with a record of 6 – 14. The team won four conference games this season.
As of press time, Brown and Frame finished 12th and 13th place in the points per game, both averaged 13.6 points per game.
Maya Johnson finished the year with the best field goal percentage in the conference, making 59.7% of her shots for the Lady Rangers.
Great American Conference officials awarded Brown and Frame All-GAC Second Team honors on March 2.
“It is an absolute blast to be named to that honor,” Frame said about being named to the All-GAC Second Team. “Bailey is the ultimate assistor and scorer. So it was really awesome to play with someone who can assist me really well.”
The men’s and women’s basketball teams have concluded their seasons.
— Sports Editor Dacoda McDowell-Wahpekeche contributed to this story.
