ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Women's Basketball team picked up a huge win in a must-win situation over Henderson State on Thursday night by a final score of 62-52.

The Lady Rangers hit a season-high 26 free throws during the victory, and also held the Reddies to the lowest point total a foe has managed against Northwestern all season. The Lady Ranger defense was crippling all night long, holding the Reddies to just 16-of-51 (31.4%) shooting.

Junior standout Kalea King produced one of her most complete games of the season with 23 points and nine rebounds throughout the game. Seniors Ashley Pride and Jonae Isaac also both reached double digit scoring with 15 and 11 points respectively. Junior Kori Barrios had a season-high five offensive rebounds, helping the Lady Rangers total 13 second-chance points.

Northwestern was held without a three-point conversion for the first time all season, but made up for it with solid defense and taking care of the basketball on the offensive side of the ball. The Lady Rangers keep their play-off hopes alive with the victory, but will still need help from other times in the conference on Saturday afternoon.  

The Lady Rangers came out with high energy in the opening minutes of the ball game, taking a 10-4 lead within the first four minutes of the contest. Barrios thrived early on, capitalizing on some poor rebounding efforts from the Reddies that lead to three offensive rebounds, resulting in six second-chance points for the Lady Rangers. Two straight deep threes from the Reddies brought the game back square at 10 all, followed up by a foul call on the fast drive on Barrios that sent the Reddies to the line to take their first lead of the game heading into the first media timeout at the 4:30 mark of the first quarter. Seven more unanswered points from Henderson State extended their mid-quarter run to 13-1, bringing the score to 17-10. A jump shot with less than a minute remaining in the quarter brought the score to 17-12 after the opening quarter. Northwestern survived the quarter with minimal damage thanks to some solid defense despite hitting just 1-of-7 seven shots in the final minute of the quarter.

Northwestern capitalized on 8-of-10 free throws during the second quarter to even up the match at 28-28. The Lady Rangers defense also stepped up and forced five Reddie turnovers in the quarter. Two free throws from King with less than 30 seconds left in the quarter gave the lead back to the Lady Rangers. A quick steal-and-score from senior Ashley Pride added two more points to finish off the 7-0 Northwestern run spanning over the final minute-thirty of the half. The Lady Rangers took a 32-28 into the locker room thanks in large part to 15 points from King in the first half alone. Northwestern also out-rebounded Henderson 20-to-15, an area in which the black-and-red struggled with in the first match-up between the two teams.

Picking up right where they left off at the end of the second quarter, the Lady Rangers scored the first four points of the second half, extending their lead to 36-28. A hard foul at mid-court on King gave the Lady Rangers two free throws and possession, which King converted on at the charity stripe and then Barrios backed her up with a basket of her own to give the Lady Rangers their largest lead of the ball game at 43-30 with 5:38 remaining in the second quarter. The tough pressure defense on the Reddies allowed for the Lady Rangers to pick up six unanswered points, extending their lead to 49-36. The Reddies would finish the third quarter on a 7-3 run, bringing the score heading into the final quarter to 50-43.

Both teams noticeably began to feel the severity of the game with play-off implications as neither squad hit a basket during the first three minutes of the final quarter. Points continued to be hard to come by as the team's combined for a total of just four points through the first five minutes of the quarter. A steal-and-score at half court by sophomore Deja Beechum followed with a drive-and-score from senior Ashley Pride extended the Lady Ranger lead to 11 points with 2:14 remaining in the game. Two late key offensives rebounds from Barrios to keep the Lady Rangers possession alive with just over a minute remaining allowed Pride to control the ball and draw the foul. Pride hit her free throws, moving the score to 61-50. A runner from the Reddies and two more free throws from Pride brought the contest to an end.

Up Next

Northwestern will honor three seniors on Saturday afternoon before their most important contest of the year. The Lady Rangers will take on Ouachita Baptist at 1 p.m. inside the friendly confines of Percefull Fieldhouse for their final regular season game of the 2016-17 season. 

For the latest news and updates on Lady Ranger Basketball, follow @NWOSUAthletics on Twitter or visit www.riderangersride.com