ALVA, Okla. - Northwestern Oklahoma State Women's Basketball dropped their first home contest of the season Saturday evening despite leading throughout much of the first half.

The Rangers were unable to capitalize on a strong first half against a very balanced Oklahoma Christian team, ultimately losing for the first time in Percefull Fieldhouse by a final score of 81-59. Four Eagles scored double-digit points in the victory, shooting 42 percent from the floor compared to the Rangers 34 percent.

Senior Ashley Pride and junior Kalea King led the way for the Rangers offensively with 19 and 14 points respectively. King almost reached double-double standards with nine rebounds as well.

The energy from the streaking Rangers was felt from the opening tip-off inside Percefull Fieldhouse, as King got her evening started early with five straight points that came from driving straight down the lane into the interior of the Eagle defense. The Rangers started the ball game on a 10-2 run that was only halted by a few close calls that went the Eagles way. The Eagles came back after a couple of Ranger stalled possessions and took a 12-10 lead with 4:09 left in the quarter. The Rangers struggled to convert on a few open looks that allowed Oklahoma Christian to extend their lead to 15-10 with just under three minutes remaining in the quarter. A 15-foot jump shot from freshman Destinee Robinson finally broke the scoring draught for the Rangers at the 2:11 mark of the quarter. Northwestern rode a 10-0 run to finish off the quarter that was spurred by deep threes from Pride and Alva native Bailey Forrell.

Both teams struggled with offensive efficiency at the start of the second quarter. Senior Jonae Isaac finally got the Rangers going in the quarter with a corner three after nearly five minutes of scoreless action for Northwestern. Both teams went a combined 3-14 in the first five minutes of the quarter. After the offensive rough patch, the Rangers still hung to a 23-19 lead with 4:30 remaining. A nice pass inside from senior Relina Johnson to Isaac got the Rangers back up to a four-point advantage at 25-21 with 1:30 remaining in the half. That lead would hold all the way down to the four second mark in the quarter, where Pride would make both of her free throw opportunities to give the Rangers a 27-21 halftime advantage.

With the confidence the Rangers developed after three straight home victories, they came out of the break and continued to look comfortable holding a lead against a tough Eagle team. Hammond, Okla. native Kori Barrios kick started a nice run to open up the half with a deep three. That opening run would give the Rangers a 34-27 lead with 6:22 remaining in the quarter. Five straight points from the Eagles would bring the back with three of the Rangers, but Barrios struck once again with a deep three to slow the Oklahoma Christian comeback. The Eagles would respond by going on their largest run of the ball game, a 14-5 run to give themselves the lead at 41-39 with 2:30 seconds left in the quarter, leading to a coach Tasha Diesselhorst timeout. Once the Eagles got on a roll in the second half Northwestern was unable to provide an answer. Back-to-back missed Ranger threes were followed up by a deep Oklahoma Christian three to give them their largest lead of the night, 45-40. One more Eagle lay-up combined with a cold streak in the shooting department for Northwestern led to a 47-40 lead for the Eagles heading into the final quarter.

The final quarter of action got underway with a King three pointer which seemed to increase the intensity throughout the home-team bench. An apparent foul on a play where Isaac was slung to the ground by an opposing Eagle player was not called, leading to an Oklahoma Christian three-pointer which extended their lead to 55-45. The teams alternated baskets to bring the score to 57-47 with 5:06 remaining in the contest. A slew of fouls called on both teams visibly frustrated both units in the closing minutes of the game. The Eagles were able to continue their strong second half all the way to the end, moving the Rangers record to 3-6 on the year.

Up Next
The Rangers will hit the road next Saturday, December 17 to take on Oklahoma Wesleyan in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Game time is set for 3 p.m.