DURANT, Okla.- After trailing by as many as 23 points late in the third quarter, Northwestern Oklahoma State's women's basketball team nearly completed an improbable comeback against Southeastern Oklahoma State, but eventually fell by a final of 78-68.

Plagued by a tough shooting performance in the first half, the Lady Rangers (3-11, 2-6 in GAC) came out in the second half on a mission and brought the game back to a single digit lead with less than five minutes to play. After two tough conference games over the weekend, the Lady Rangers will return back home to take part in a conference showdown with arch-rival Southwestern Oklahoma State on Monday night.

Guard Kalea King once again led the way with 15 points as well as grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Alva native Bailey Forell produced a career high 13 points in the loss, shooting exactly 50 percent from the floor (4-of-8.)  Despite a solid inside presence from the Savage Storm, Northwestern out rebounded Southeastern 44-40, but were outscored 40-16 in the paint.

Northwestern struggled out of the gates early, shooting just over 20 percent from the field in the first quarter of action. Southeastern capitalized on the Lady Rangers struggles from the floor by going on a 9-3 run to take a 20-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Rangers regrouped coming out of the break in action and went on a 9-2 run at the beginning of the quarter, finished off by a deep three from senior Relina Johnson to narrow the margin to just three points at 22-19. Seven points from Savage Storm guard Sa'Liesha Hunter in the final two minutes of the half extended the lead to 11 points, as the teams headed to the dressing room with the score 36-25 in favor of Southeastern. Northwestern battled hard in the first half, but were unable to overcome a 22.9 shooting percentage from the field. On the flip side of the coin, the Savage Storm hit 16-of-27 shot attempts in the half and were able to hold the sharp-shooting Lady Rangers to just four three-point buckets in the first half. 

After trailing 60-37 with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter, the Lady Rangers, as they have done all season long, showed their grit and erased that 23 point lead during the first portion of the fourth quarter. A three-pointer from King with 6:59 remaining in the game brought the score to 67-57. A nice drive from Johnson into the lane narrowed the once large Savage Storm lead to just eight points, erupting the Northwestern bench. Savage Storm forward Katie Webb calmed down her team and continued to takeover the game with two straight buckets to extend the lead back to 71-59. Webb proved to be the deciding factor down the stretch as she finished with 20 points for the afternoon. Five points from Pride, who was held scoreless in the first half, once again brought the deficit to single digits, but free throws from Southeastern and a few costly turnovers sealed the victory for the Savage Storm.

The Lady Rangers will put the past two contests behind them and set their focus to Monday night's rivalry game against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Percefull Fieldhouse. Tip-off in the arch-rivalry match-up is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.