NWOSU Rangers Camille Thomas No.10, looks to pass while being defended by a University of Arkansas-Monticello player on Jan.16 NWOSU won 74-57 Photo by Victor Kenzie
By OAKLEE FIELDER Sports Editor
The NWOSU women’s basketball team went 3-4 over the Christmas break. They lost every game they played away, but won every one of their home games. They started the break playing against the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Savage Storm in Durant.
The Rangers and Savage Storm competed closely, with the two teams never being separated by more than 10 points the entire game. The first half ended in a dead heat 35-35. In the third quarter, at the 3:11 minute mark, the Savage Storm had the largest lead in the game which was 39-49. The Rangers fought back and wrung them back in. At the end of regulation, the score was tied again 62-62. The game went into overtime, and the Savage Storm never let go of the lead. The game ended 68-77, NEOSU took the win on Dec. 16.
The next game, Dec. 19, the NWOSU Rangers faced off at home against the ECU Tigers. The Rangers took the lead quickly, ending the first quarter up by 10. The Rangers kept the scoring rolling, making 30 points in the second half. The Tigers were not the greatest in scoring by any means. The Tigers only scored 20 points in the first half and 18 in the second. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers only scored 3 points. NWOSU destroyed ECU at the end of the day, ending the score at 59-38.
The Rangers went on the road Jan. 4, 9 and 11, facing three opponents away. Their first game was against Oklahoma Baptist University. They started the first quarter on the right foot, but the Bison came back in the second quarter to end the half at a tie, 36-36. The Bison then took the second half by storm and ran away with the lead. They outscored the Rangers in the second half by 13 points. The OBU Bison defeated the NWOSU Rangers, 83-70.
The next game on the Ranger’s road trip was against Ouachita Baptist University. The Tigers played the game well and scored 34 points against the Rangers’ 24 in the first half. The Rangers started a comeback in the second half, scoring one more point than the Tigers in the third quarter, and then six more than the Tigers. Unfortunately, they were not able to finish the comeback. The Tigers beat the Rangers, 65-62.
For the third away game in a row, the team was in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, to play the Henderson State University Reddies. The Rangers started the game well, scoring 23 points in the first quarter against the Reddies’ 18. They ended the half up 41-39. Henderson State started the second half ready to play, and scored 33 points against the Rangers’ 30. The difference was enough and the Reddies came back to beat the Rangers, 72-69.
After losing three games in a row, the Rangers came home to play two games. Their first game Jan. 16 was against University of Arkansas-Monticello. The Boll Weevils started the first quarter with the lead over the Rangers, but the Rangers took the lead away from them in the second quarter, 29-23. The Rangers kept scoring and heavily outscored the Boll Weevils 46-34 in the second half. The Rangers got the win at home over the Boll Weevils, 74-57.
The second game for the Rangers after winter break was Jan. 18 against the Southern Arkansas Muleriders. The Rangers started scoring and did not stop. They scored 22 in the first quarter and 25 in the second. They had the lead at halftime 47-21. The second half was not as nice to the Rangers, as the Muleriders scored 10 more points than the Rangers. Luckily the difference was nowhere near what the Muleriders needed to come back and NWOSU beat Southern Arkansas, 75-59.
On Dec. 23, the GAC announced that Payton Jones was chosen as the Defensive Player of the Week for women’s basketball.
Over the break NWOSU had five players nominated for GAC Players of the Week.
Kira Bass was nominated three times, Kennedy Hight, Camille Thomas, Jaida Shipp and Carly Craig were all nominated, but none of them won.
The women’s basketball team now has an 8-8 record and sits in the sixth position in the GAC standings.
The Rangers will face off at home against SWOSU on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 p.m.. They will then travel to Ada to face ECU on Saturday.