ALVA, Okla. – Following a setback last Saturday afternoon at home, the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Lady Rangers got back on track in their final non-conference game of the year with a 68-52 victory over Newman (Kan.).
Northwestern improved to 4-5 as the Lady Rangers head into the bulk of their conference scheduled. The Lady Rangers are on the road Saturday afternoon with a Great American Conference showdown at Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
In Tuesday night's victory inside Percefull Fieldhouse, Kalea King recorded her second career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, a team high rebound total. Bailey Brown was incredibly efficient at the free-throw line with 16 converted shots in 18 attempts on her way to 25 points to lead all scorers. It was the second time this season Brown tied her career high in scoring.
NWOSU was 24-for-30 as a team at the charity stripe.
Much like their defensive performance last week against Southern Nazarene, the Lady Rangers forced the Lady Jets to turn the ball over 20 times in the game, 13 coming from takeaways. Those opportunities the defense created were not wasted with the Lady Rangers scoring 15 points on turnovers and 14 fast break points.
The Northwestern women also dominated in the paint with 28 points coming inside the lane.
In the first quarter with the Lady Rangers leading 7-5, Brown drained a three pointer to spark a 9-2 run to close the first ten minutes of play. Northwestern held on to a 16-7 advantage to start the second stanza.
Whenever the Lady Rangers tried to stretch their advantage in the second, the Lady Jets seemed to answer to keep the game within reach. Northwestern's largest lead of the second quarter was a 12-point difference with 4:41 to go when Kenzi Lamer hit a jumper in the lane to make it a 25-13 ball game.
It would be a battle to keep the Lady Jets from making a push in the second half, but the Lady Rangers passed the test each time. Newman was able to cut the Lady Ranger to four with four minutes to go in the third before Brown had a free-throw and a basket in a one-minute span, followed by a big three from Presley Payahsape from the left wing to make it 40-31 at the 2:36 mark for the third.
The Lady Jets again made it a three-point ballgame in the final minute of the third. However, veteran point guard Jade Jones drilled a three to stop any momentum the visiting squad put together.
Jones' three started a 10-0 run by the Lady Rangers heading into the fourth quarter. She would finish the game with nine points and four assists.
As the final quarter went on, Northwestern continued to create a larger gap between the competitors as they ultimately went up by 19 with 2:14 to go in the game on a basket from behind the arc off the hands of Jakeria Otey, assisted by Jones, to pace the Lady Rangers to the victory.
Otey and Payahsape had five points in the game, while Sami Williams joined Lamer with two points.
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