By RANGERS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
Northwestern Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball team sent their three seniors out on a high note with a 72-71 victory over Ouachita Baptist on Saturday afternoon.
A fast start to the contest that saw the Lady Rangers jump out to a 14-point lead midway through the opening quarter allowed Northwestern to edge out the Lady Tigers in the end. Junior Kalea King finished off her outstanding season with 21 points and seven boards, making her final case for post-season accolades that should be coming her way.
The story of the evening however was the three seniors that played their final games inside Percefull Fieldhouse. Senior Ashley Pride concluded her Lady Ranger career with a phenomenal afternoon, totaling 13 points while posting a season high eight assists in the game. Fellow seniors Jonae Isaac and Relina Johnson also attributed in big ways to the Lady Rangers final win of the season, with Isaac just missing double-double numbers with nine points and eight rebounds, while Johnson totaled eight points and provided a solid inside presence for the Lady Rangers.
Northwestern shot 43 percent (27-for-63) throughout the game and forced 22 turnovers for the opposing team. The Lady Rangers hit 9-of-28 attempts from behind the three point line and converted on 9-of-10 free throws, a stat which would prove to be the deciding factor as the Lady Tigers struggled from the line all evening, making just 6-of-16 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Rangers stormed out of the gates and opened up an 18-4 lead in the first five minutes of the contest. The solid play continued throughout the rest of the quarter as a jump shot from junior Kori Barrios gave the black-and-red a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A 15-5 run for the Lady Tigers to open the second quarter brought the score to 32-29 with 4:03 remaining in the half. After their outstanding start to the game, the Lady Rangers struggled a bit in the second quarter, and after four points from Isaac right before the two minute mark of the mark, the Lady Rangers couldn’t convert on a field goal for the remainder of the half, allowing Ouachita to narrow the lead to just 28-27 going into the halftime break.
Ouachita came out with the same intensity they showed in the second quarter and quickly took their first lead of the ball game just 12 seconds into the third quarter. That Lady Tiger lead would be extended to as many as five throughout the early stages of the half, but three consecutive three-point buckets from the three seniors gave the Lady Rangers the lead back at the 6:03 mark.
Ouachita could only manage to tie the game up one more time before King took the ball game over and scored eight points in the final quarter of play to keep the Lady Rangers ahead. A free throw from Pride with one second remaining proved to be the winning point as the Lady Tigers hit a deep three right at the buzzer to bring the winning margin to just one point.