SEARCY, Ark. - In what looked like was going to be a tough fought game early on, didn't turn out quite as planned for the Northwestern Oklahoma State Lady Rangers as the Harding Lady Bisons were too much for the visitors, winning 93-63.
It was a tough night not only in the scoring column for the Lady Rangers, but also on the glass, as they were only allowed to pull down 25 total rebounds, while the opponent came down with 52.
Leading the way in the scoring column on the evening was Aneli Thompson, who had a quality night with 13 points, going 4-for-9 from the field. She was also 3-for-3 at the charity stripe.
Jade Jones was the only other Northwestern player in double figures with 10, while converting on 6-of-9 from the free throw line.
The stat line on the evening that really hurt the Black-and-Red was the shooting percentage as the guests were only allowed to hit 20 out of their 66 total shots, for a 30.3 percent shooting night as a squad.
It didn't take long for the Lady Bisons to seize control in the contest, going up 10-2 in just over two minutes into play, but Northwestern wasn't about to go away quietly, bringing it back to 19-12 before the start of the second quarter.
Harding started out on an 8-2 run in the second period and it was looking like another tough quarter for the Lady Rangers, but the gritty team kept fighting.
Following the opening run by the home team, Northwestern went on a big 10-0 run to make it a 2-point ball game at 27-25.
With 1:08 left to play in the opening half,
Jakeria Otey brought the Lady Rangers within one point at 31-30 on two made free shots, but ending the half was HU who threw in a layup with 33 ticks left on the board to push the lead to three points at the break.
In the first five minutes of play into the third period, the home team had pounced on the visitors, starting out on a 15-1 run, making it a challenge to try and get back in the game.
The trend continued throughout the rest of the period, where the Lady Bisons finished the third quarter, up 27.
The fourth quarter unfortunately for the Lady Rangers, started out like the other three, where the home team just couldn't miss, even though Northwestern had their most productive quarter on offense.
Northwestern was able to score 27 points in the final quarter of play, but Harding also matched their biggest quarter total with 30 points, leading to their 93-63 victory.
UP NEXT
Northwestern will continue their first Arkansas road swing where they will travel to Russellville, Ark. on Saturday to take on the Golden Suns of Arkansas Tech.
