The women’s basketball qualified for the GAC championships and started against Oklahoma Baptist.
NWOSU 69-OBU 65
The first quarter of the game started slow with the first points being scored in the eighth minute by Bass with a layup. The Bison responded with two free throws and tied the game.
Jones hit a layup and took the lead by two. OBU made a three pointer and took the lead away from the Lady Rangers. Shipp made a tip-in and Jones made a three pointer to make it a four-point game with just over half the quarter to go.
The two teams competed hard and it was close as the quarter was closing. A three pointer by Craig opened the lead to seven for the Lady Rangers, but a layup from the Bison made it five.
The second quarter was slow to start as well, but a pair of free throws from Bass started the scoring. The two teams traded layups and kept the difference seven.
The Bison shrunk the Lady Rangers’ lead to five, a free throw from Craig made it six. Two free throws from Shipp made it eight. The half ended with the Lady Rangers up by eight 28-20.
The third quarter started quickly with the two teams trading points and it was still an eight-point game.
The Bison shrunk Northwestern’s lead to five, but Shipp brought it up to ten. Jones made a free throw to make it eleven, but the Bison shrunk it to seven. The two teams fought hard to close the third quarter, and by the end of it the score difference was just five.
Jones opened the final quarter to increase the Lady Rangers’ lead to eight. The two teams traded three pointers, but then the Bison were able to reel the Lady Rangers in. With one minute left in regular time, OBU had the lead by one. Two free throws from the Bison made the difference three with twelve seconds left.
With the pressure on and the game on the line, Carly Craig shot and made a three pointer to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The five-minute overtime started with a quick three pointer from Jones, which was responded with a tip-in from the Bison to make the difference one. The two teams traded layups with three minutes left. They then traded field goals and the Lady Rangers still led with two minutes left.
A layup from Jones seemed to have sealed the game, but there was a foul against NWOSU and that gave OBA a chance to tie the game, and that they did. The game was 57-57 and went to double overtime.
It started with two free pointers by Thomas which was responded by a layup from the Bison. Craig made a three pointer and that gave the Lady Rangers a chance with the lead in their hands. A layup and a pair of free throws from OBU gave the Bison the lead. A layup from Shipp gave Northwestern the lead back but only by one.
Thomas shot two but only made one free throw and the Lady Rangers had the lead by two. The Bison missed a three pointer and gave the Lady Rangers to seal the game with less than a minute left. Thomas shot and made two free throws, which was responded with a field goal from OBU.
The Bison fouled and that game Carly Craig a chance to finish them off. She made the two free throws and that sent the Lady Rangers to the semi-finals of the GAC Championship.
NWOSU 57-HAR 70
After the Lady Rangers won their first GAC playoff game, they faced off against the Bison once again, but these Bison were the Arkansas variety from Harding University.
The first quarter started with four points for Northwestern, but Harding responded quickly and reeled them in to tie it just halfway through the opening quarter. The Lady Rangers and Bison fought hard throughout the opening frame, but at the end of it, Harding was up by one 15-16.
The second quarter was where Northwestern really slipped and fell. They were only able to score seven points against Harding’s seventeen. The half ended 22-34.
The third quarter showed the Lady Rangers in their true selves again. They competed hard against the Bison, the two teams almost matching every point the other scored. Sadly, the Lady Rangers were not able to start to reel the Bison in much, ending the third down by fifteen and a hard final quarter to go.
The fourth started with the two teams trading points, keeping the difference at fifteen with five minutes left. The Lady Rangers had to pull something together to beat the Bison. They all fought hard and played tough, but unfortunately they were not able to come back and secure a birth into the finals.