ALVA, Okla. – A huge second quarter that gave the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team a 12 point halftime lead was erased in the second half by Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday night inside Percefull Fieldhouse.

The Savage Storm outscored the Lady Rangers by a total of 43-22 in the second half. Northwestern was led by junior Kalea King, who had a double-double on the evening with 16 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

Senior Jonae Isaac produced another quality game with 15 points of her own. Alva native Bailey Forell nearly matched her season high with 12 points while shooting 4-of-7 from three-point range.

Northwestern shot 24-for-66 from the field for a total of 36.4%, while the Savage Storm bettered the Lady Rangers with a 42.1% team percentage. Southeastern out-rebounded the Lady Rangers 40-to-36, while hitting 18-of-20 free throw attempts. Northwestern only had nine free throw attempts throughout the game, converting on seven of them, a far stretch from Southeastern's 20 attempts.

The first five minutes of the ball game saw a very physical start with both teams recognizing the impact that the contest will have to the Great American Conference standings. The Savage Storm opened up an eight point lead at the 2:22 mark of the first quarter thanks to four straight made buckets. The 20-12 lead in favor of Southeastern would maintain until the 1:08 mark when standout Savage Storm guard Olivia Potter, who finished with 17 points and five assists, hit a deep three to extend the lead to 23-12.

King would answer with a three-pointer of her own, followed by a nice defensive stand for the home team. Following the defensive stand,  Deja Beechum would hit a pair of free throws late in the quarter that would bring the score to 23-17 at the conclusion of one.

An Isaac jumper from right at the free throw line followed up by a back court violation on the Savage Storm narrowed the once double-digit lead to just 23-21 at the 8:49 mark.

The Lady Ranger defense stepped up in a big way and forced two more consecutive Southeastern turnovers, leading to the equalizing lay-up from Beechum at the 7:24 mark in the quarter. The 11-0 Ranger run was capped off with a Pride free throw to give them their first lead at 24-23. Coach Diesselhorst made the switch at the quarter break to a zone defense that seemed to give the Storm guards fits. The defensive switch seemed to also boost the offensive efficiency as the Lady Rangers increased their lead to 29-27 midway through the quarter. A three pointer from Isaac at the 3:14 mark, that also drew a foul on the defense, allowed the Lady Rangers to convert on the extra possession in the form of a King jump shot to increase their lead to 37-30 with 2:42 remaining in the quarter. An 8-3 run leading into the half that featured two McKenzie Billy three pointers brought the Lady Ranger lead to 45-33 heading into the locker rooms.

The second quarter proved to be a huge momentum builder in the ballgame for the Lady Rangers as the defensive switch they made at the beginning of the quarter held Southeastern to just 2-of-11 shooting in the quarter. Northwestern capitalized on the poor shooting and hit 11-of-19 shots to outscore the Savage Storm by a total of 28-10 in the quarter.

Southeastern came out the halftime break after a tumultuous second quarter and hit three quick buckets in the first minute of the second half to force a coach Diesselhorst timeout up just 45-39 following the hot Storm start. A 15-3 run that was finally capped off by a deep three-pointer from Storm guard Katie Webb tied the game up at 48-48 at the 5:45 mark. Back-and-forth buckets from both teams brought the score at the end of three to 53-52.

Northwestern faced the same shooting fate in the third quarter as Southeastern experienced in the second quarter to allow the Storm back into the contest. The Lady Rangers hit just 3-of-15 shots in the frame to get outscored by a total of 19-8.

A 6-3 run in favor of the black-and-red extended their lead back up to 59-55 before another three pointer from Alva native Bailey Forell, her third of the game, brought the score to 62-55 with 6:02 remaining. Fantastic ball movement from the Lady Rangers set up Kalea King for a nice lay-up that drew a foul, setting up a three-point play to extend the lead back out to 65-58 following yet another deep Potter three. Four straight free throws from both Webb and Potter brought the Storm within three of the Lady Rangers at 65-62 with 4:21 remaining in the game.

Another two-point bucket from Webb brought the score to 65-64, which would remain the same until a Southeastern timeout with 2:26 left in the game. Coming out of the timeout, the Storm went right back to Potter, who nailed yet another three from way downtown to give the Storm a 67-65 lead. A bad possession from the Lady Rangers set up another Storm three-pointer, giving the Storm their largest lead since the first quarter of action. Southeastern finished the game on a 17-2 run in the final five minutes of play. 


Up Next

The Lady Rangers will hit the road and face-off with Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon with tip-off set for 1 p.m.

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