ALVA, Okla. - Northwestern Oklahoma State Women's Basketball defended their home court for the second straight game and earned their first conference victory of the year with a 71-64 win over Southern Arkansas University.

The Rangers led by as much as 19 and were able to control their nerves down the stretch to finish off the Muleriders. A 50 percent team performance from behind the three-point line in the first half turned out to be the key difference in the ball game.

Senior Ashley Pride led the way for the Rangers with 20 points, including 14 in the first half alone. Two other Rangers reached double figures. Hammon, Okla. native Kori Barrios hit a team high four three pointers en route to a 16 point performance while Deja Beechum was all over the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks while constantly providing the Rangers with clutch offensive and defensive plays throughout the night.  
Northwestern started right where they left off against Panhandle State on Monday night, hitting four three-point shots in the first five minutes of the ballgame to take a 12-7 lead on the Muleriders. After the onslaught of threes, the Rangers offense cooled off, but a fast break attack from Pride led to a free throw that finally broke both teams scoring drought. Following back-to-back turnovers from each team, Kalea King hit another one of the five three pointers the Rangers made in the first half alone to bring the score to 16-12 at the end of one.

Both teams got off to a quick start in the second quarter, each hitting a jump shot before a nice defensive stop by the Rangers led to a quick jump-shot from Jonae Isaac to increase the Ranger lead to 20-14. The Rangers then got on their biggest scoring roll of the evening that was started off with another tough drive to the basket by Pride, which she then followed up with a three-point bucket in the very next possession to get the Rangers started on a 7-0 run. The teams continued to trade points until back-to-back threes from guards Barrios and Beechum gave Northwestern their largest lead of the ball game at 36-24. Momentum continued to fall in Northwestern's favor all the way to the end of the half as they went on a 7-2 run to take a 43-26 lead into the locker rooms.

The second half started out with the Rangers going on a 5-4 run followed up by great offensive ball movement to get Barrios open in the corner for a three-point dagger that pushed the Rangers to a 51-43 lead. Following a three-point answer from Southern Arkansas, Beechum strung together five points of her own on consecutive possessions. The Muleriders finished the third quarter on a 5-0 run to bring the Ranger lead down to just 53-43 at the end of three.

Southern Arkansas continued their comeback attempt early in the final quarter with a 7-1 run. King attempted to stop the bleeding for the Rangers by drawing a foul in the paint, but was unable to convert the free throws. A deep three from Ashli Robinson finally got the Rangers back on track bringing the score to 57-52. The Rangers struggled to keep the lengthy Muleriders off the glass on the next possession which led to a lay-up to continue the comeback attempt. Northwestern refused to allow the comeback to down them and never allowed the Muleriders to gain a lead down the stretch. A huge Barrios three from nearly out of bounds resulted in an eruption from Percefull Fieldhouse that seemed to finally put an end to the Mulerider charge. The Rangers hit their free throw opportunities down the stretch and pulled away with the first conference victory of the year, 71-64.  

The Rangers will look to build on their two game winning streak against Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday afternoon, with tip-off set for 1:00 p.m.

For the latest information and updates on Ranger Basketball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on Twitter or go to www.riderangersride.com.