By TRAVIS HARMON-SMITH
Staff Reporter
Northwestern women’s and men’s basketball traveled to Weatherford, Okla.,Thursday evening to face Great American Conference opponent and arch-rival Southwestern Oklahoma State.
In the Women’s contest, Southwestern produced quickly with a quick 11-1 run to start the scoring attack for the Lady Bulldogs.
Northwestern would finally get things in order, responding with a few transition baskets down the stretch.
Even though the Rangers responded on offense, the Lady Bulldogs shot incredibly from the field throughout the first half, which caused a 16-point Southwestern lead going in at halftime.
During the second half, both teams came out unable to produce offensively, but the
Lady Bulldogs continued to dominate the Ranger defense in three early minutes of the second.
Northwestern guards Kalea King and Relina Johnson hit three-pointers to put the Ranger back within nine, 53-44.
Shortly after, Northwestern shooting guard Relina Johnson scored five straight points with five minutes left, bringing the Rangers within three, 69-66. Unfortunately, the Ranger defense had nothing left in the fuel tank to stop the Lady Bulldog three-point shooting attack, which resulted in an 83-72 Lady Bulldog victory.
The Northwestern men struggled also against the Bulldogs, as both teams were tied up 6-6
In the early minutes of the first half. The Bulldogs erupted on a 26-1 run throughout most of the first half, which caused the Rangers to be down an enormous 32-7. However, Northwestern would come back toward the end of the half attempting to trim down the Bulldog deficit, which caused Northwestern to go in at the half down 44-20.
During the second half, Southwestern took matters into their own hands by dismantling the Northwestern defense, producing numerous scoring runs that discombobulated the Rangers entirely throughout the second half as the Bulldogs took a massive 77-46 victory over Northwestern.
Both teams concluded the 2015 season in the Great American Conference, with the men finishing the regular season with a 9-18 record, while finishing 8-12 in the Great American Conference.
Alongside the men, the women finished with a regular season record of 10-16 and 9-11 in the Great American Conference.