By Caitlin Hofen, Feature Editor
The Lady Rangers held on to their three-game winning streak over Arkansas Tech but lost to Harding to finish their series in Arkansas.
The Lady Rangers brought home a victory after defeating Arkansas Tech 80-68 on Thursday. Carly Craig finished with a career high of 27 points, and was joined by Faith Simpson and Camile Thomas as double-figure scorers.
Craig started the game with a bang, dropping a three-pointer to put Northwestern on the board. The Golden Suns answered back with a three of their own. The Lady Rangers retaliated with six points from inside the paint off two steals.
Arkansas Tech tied the game at 9-9 halfway through the first quarter and extended its lead 15-10. Northwestern answered with two layups followed by a three from Craig. After much back and forth, the first quarter ended 21-21.
To start the second quarter, Northwestern made a jump shot to take the lead. Craig hit her third three of the half, taking a 30-24 lead with 6:53 remaining in the quarter. Arkansas Tech tried to cut into the Ranger lead, but Nikya Orange scored with a layup, followed by Craig and Josena Frame with a three-pointer each.
Northwestern led 40-32. However, the Golden Suns ended the half with a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to two points at halftime.
To start the third quarter, Arkansas Tech knocked down a three to take the lead for the first time since the opening quarter. The Lady Rangers responded and eventually took back over for a 49-46 lead.
Paige Scott started the fourth quarter for the Lady Rangers, knocking down a three-pointer to take a 55-51 lead. They pushed their run to 7-0 after several successful scoring opportunities pushed the lead to 59-51. Scott hit her second three of the quarter to keep Northwestern up by seven after Arkansas Tech slightly closed the gap.
After several minutes of back and forth, Craig closed out the win at the foul line with two free throws for an 80-68 victory over Arkansas Tech.
The Lady Rangers lost their win streak against Harding Saturday, falling 50-64.
Strong defense started the game with no one scoring in the first two minutes. Harding found its way to the board first with a layup. Faith Simpson quickly retaliated with the assist from Carly Craig. Harding took a 6-2 lead before Camille Thomas ended the run. The Bisons battled back for a 17-6 lead. Craig scored her first points of the game toward the end of the quarter as the Ranges trailed 19-8.
Nikya Orange scored her first basket at the 8:12 mark of the quarter on an assist by Carlie Badley. The Lady Rangers now trailed 21-10. Harding continued to hold a double-digit lead until a three pointer by Craig to cut the deficit to 22-15. Craig scored five straight points following a jump shot, putting Northwestern back within five. Harding went on a 5-0 run out of a timeout, though, pushing their lead back to double digits. Josena Frame connected on her first three-pointer of the game, sending the game into halftime with the Lady Rangers trailing by single digits.
In the second half, Simpson scored the team’s first five points from the foul line before Camille Thomas’ layup cut the deficit to seven points at 34-27. Harding kept answering every Northwestern run, pushing the lead back to 10 at 37-27. A layup by Simpson followed by Talayah Thomas with a three-pointer put the Lady Rangers back within six points. A two-minute scoring drought with the help of Northwestern’s defense helped close the gap even more as Craig hit three straight foul shots to bring Northwestern within three.
Harding closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to go back up 11 points at 48-37. Northwestern scored first in the fourth quarter with a shot from Talayah Thomas to make it 48-41. Harding hit back-to-back three-pointers followed by field goal for an 8-0 run to bring the lead back to 15 at 56-41. The Bisons’ lead grew to 21 before Northwestern fought back into the game. Northwestern closed the game on a 7-0 run, but the final score was in favor of the Bisons, 64-50.