By Eric Scott
Athletic Communications
For the second time in as many seasons, the Northwestern Oklahoma State University women’s basketball was victorious in their conference opener as a defensive effort by the Lady Rangers was key in a 63-54 win over the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm.
Northwestern improved its record to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in Great American Conference play with the victory, while the Crimson Storm remain winless at 0-5 and 0-1. The Lady Rangers are back in action Saturday afternoon when Oklahoma Baptist visits Percefull Fieldhouse. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Southern Nazarene’s 54 points was the fewest the Crimson Storm has scored in a game this season, including a loss to former No. 1, Central Missouri.
Of the Crimson Storm’s 24 turnovers on the night, 19 were steals by the Lady Rangers. Kalea King, Jakeria Otey and Deja Beechum each had four steals, Bailey Brown and McKenzie Billy had two and Kyleigh Leverich picked up one take-away.
On the offensive end of the floor, King and Brown continued to roll with 23 and 22 points, respectively. The pair are averaging 22 points each over the past three games.
Southern Nazarene held on to a 38-27 lead at the break, but the Lady Rangers dominated the third quarter as they outscored the Crimson Storm 22-6. King kicked off the quarter with a three-pointer to set the tone in the stanza and Brown was outstanding in the paint with four layups.
Brown had seven rebounds behind a team high nine boards from Billy, a new career high for the senior.
Northwestern finished the game with 16 fast break points and had an outstanding 21 points off turnovers.
It was a steal that led to a transition basket at the 1:22 mark of the third quarter to put the Lady Rangers on the high side of the score for the first time since the opening minute of the game. Beechum was able to pick the pocket of Kennedy Gillette to set up a Brown layup to put the home team up 43-42.
The Lady Rangers continued to control the game as the two teams went into the final ten minutes of play, stretching the lead to 15 with just under three minutes to go when Jade Jones found Brown on the fast break for an easy two.
With under seven minute to go, the Crimson Storm looked as if they would make a late push. However, Billy hit a three from left wing to stifle any hopes by SNU. Jones picked up one of her five assists in the game on the basket.
Billy finished with six points, as did Presley Payahsape. Jones added three points, Beechum had two and Otey finished with one point. Abby Niehues was the lone double-figure scorer for Southern Nazarene with 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. She also added six blocks and two steals to her line. A late run by the Northwestern Oklahoma University women’s basketball team wasn’t enough Saturday afternoon as the Lady Rangers fell at home to Oklahoma Baptist, 92-83.
Northwestern (3-5, 1-1 GAC) found themselves down by 12 with just over three minutes to go, only to cut the OBU (4-3, 1-1 GAC) to five with a little less than a minute remaining in the game.
The late push by the Lady Rangers was started by a pair of jumpers in the lane from Deja Beechum and a put-back layup off the fingertips of Bailey Brown. In the final minute, Jakeria Otey pulled up from behind the three-point line in transition to make it a two possession game at 88-83.
However, the Lady Bison hit their free throws late to solidify the victory.
Northwestern has an opportunity to close its three game home stand on a high note Tuesday evening as they host Newman (Kan.) at 5:30 p.m. inside Percefull Fieldhouse. Otey led the Lady Rangers in the scoring column with 21 points. Kalea King notched another solid performance with 17 points, including 6-for-10 from the floor and perfect in her two three-point attempts, and Brown turned in her fourth double-digit performance in as many games.
Not only did Otey lead the black-and-red in scoring, but she had a team high five steals and finished with six rebounds, the same total as Brown.
Jade Jones dished out six assists to go with her nine points, Beechum and Bailey Forell had five points each and Sami Williams was 2-for-2 from the floor for four points.Presley Payahsape and McKenzie Billy rounded out the scoring with three points.
Shooting percentages were nearly identical between the two teams as Northwestern hit 53.4-percent to OBU’s 53-percent from the field and both teams shot 33-percent from long range. It was the rebounding battle that was won by the visitors on Saturday with 38 boards, including 15 on the offensive end, to the Lady Rangers’ 29 rebounds. The Lady Rangers opened up the game with a 17-2 advantage in the first five minutes of the ballgame.
Unfortunately, the Lady Bison stampeded back in a big way to close the first quarter as they outscored NWOSU 25-9 to hold on to a one-point lead heading into the second.
OBU’s lead was eventually stretched for 13 with 3:54 to go in the second quarter before King answered a Mia Cherry three with one on the Lady Ranger end of the floor. That started a 9-0 run to close the first half and make it four-point ballgame at halftime down 44-40.
The 40 points NWOSU scored in the first was its highest first half total of the season. Northwestern came out in the first minute of the third quarter rolling with six straight points from Otey, one of which was an answered to a Lady Bison basket.
OBU seemed to have all of the momentum heading into the final stanza when Forell drained a three from the left corner to cut the game to 70-60 after three. The two teams battled through much of the fourth quarter before the Lady Rangers began to make their late move with three to go.
The Lady Rangers were home for yet another game against Newman University. They took the win 68-52.
The Lady Rangers were dominant, leading for the majority of the game.
Sophomore Bailey Brown had an outstanding game with 25 total points. She was 16-18 at the free throw line.
Kalea King also racked up points on the court with 20.
The Lady Rangers next face Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma on Nov. 8.