ALVA, Okla. – A clutch free throw with just four seconds left on the clock by junior Jade Jones earned the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team their first win of the 2017-18 season, 72-71, over Henderson State inside Percefull Fieldhouse.

The win moves the Lady Rangers (1-2, 1-0 GAC) to 1-0 in Great American Conference play as they came from behind and gained their first advantage in the contest all the way at the 6:27 mark of the third quarter. The Reddies tried making a comeback in the last seconds of the ballgame, but a stout defensive performance in the final minutes allowed Northwestern to sneak away with their first victory inside of Percefull Fieldhouse.

Junior Jakeria Otey led the way with 17 total points and provided six rebounds as well. Otey worked her way into the starting line-up and filled up the stat sheet, posting six rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Freshman Kinsey Neiderer contributed 15 points and five rebounds as well, as the Lady Rangers held strong in the paint, outrebounding the Reddies 43-to-39 on the evening.

After an 11-4 run to open up the game by Henderson State, seven straight points from Otey in the final minute of the opening quarter tied the game up at 16-16.That eight-point run in favor of the Lady Rangers was short lived however, as the Reddies responded to an early Neiderer three-pointer to open the third quarter with a seven-point run of their own to build a 28-21 lead.

With neither team building more than a ten point lead at any point in the second half, a 10-point run throughout the midway portion of the third quarter proved to be the turning point in the contest. That critical run was capped off by freshman Selena McDonald's lay-up that gave the Lady Rangers a 51-47 lead with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter.

McDonald finished the evening with 10 points and five rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting.

Back-to-back Jones free throws followed up by a lay-up from Otey gave Northwestern a 60-55 advantage heading into the final quarter of the game. An eight-point run at the 5:37 mark pushed the Reddies back ahead before a lay-up at the 1:43 mark by post Bailey Brown tied the contest up at 70-70.

Brown recorded eight points and eight rebounds throughout the game.

A pair of timely free throws from Brown and Jones sealed the deal for the Lady Rangers, as Northwestern held the Reddies to just three points in the final five minutes of the contest.

Jones recorded a team-high nine rebounds to go along with nine points and five assists. Senior Kori Barrios hit 2-of-7 shots from behind the three-point line to finish with eight points.

The Lady Rangers will get back in action Saturday afternoon at home for the second conference game of the season at 1:00 p.m. against Ouachita Baptist.