ALVA, Okla. – Freshman Selena McDonald had a career day Saturday afternoon as her 33 points led the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team to a 78-69 victory over Arkansas-Monticello.

McDonald also recorded a season-high 12 rebounds while her 33 points marks the third most points scored in a single game in the Great American Conference this season. McDonald made an incredible 15-of-16 shots from the field for a 93.8 shooting percentage, which stands as the highest individual field goal percentage performance in the conference this season.

As a team the Lady Rangers (7-5, 3-3 GAC) posted a shooting percentage of 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field and converted on 16-of-29 attempts from the free throw line. Junior Jade Jones contributed 23 points to the effort as well, while recording seven assists along the way.

Both squads engaged in a back-and-forth contest throughout the first half as the Lady Rangers used a three-pointer from guard Deja Beechum to take a 37-35 advantage into the halftime break. Both teams continued to battle before a 17-6 run in favor of the Lady Rangers finally gave them their first double-digit lead when McDonald sunk a lay-up at the 1:37 mark of the third quarter to make the score 59-48.

McDonald spurred the key run as she recorded 11 points throughout the later stages of the third quarter and into the beginning of the fourth. The Cotton Blossoms (5-6, 1-5 GAC) sensed the game beginning to slip away from them and made a push beginning at the 3:00 mark of the final quarter. Six straight visitor points narrowed the Lady Ranger lead down to just four with 1:06 remaining in the contest.

Five made free throws from Jones in the final minute of play sealed the deal for the Lady Rangers as the win puts them back at .500 in conference play. Guard Jakeria Otey totaled seven points and five assists while freshman Bailey Brown and McKenzie Dean contributed to the scoring effort with six points apiece.

Northwestern will return to action on Jan. 11 on the road at Southern Nazarene with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m.