ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team went on the road and defeated East Central by a final score of 76-71 in order to keep their postseason hopes alive.
 
Despite trailing by as many as 16 during the first half, Northwestern battled their way back into the contest and outscored the Tigers 22-12 in the final quarter of the game to earn the victory. The victory moves the Lady Rangers to 8-13 in GAC play and will keep their hopes alive of earning one of the eight playoff spots in the GAC postseason tournament.
 
Freshman Bailey Brown led four Northwestern scorers in double digits with a career high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. Junior Jade Jones was held scoreless in the first half, but answered with all 16 of her total points in the second half.
 
Guards Jakeria Otey and Kinsey Neiderer served as the other two Lady Rangers in double digit scoring with 15 and 16 points respectively. Northwestern shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the floor for the contest and forced the Tigers into committing 18 total turnovers.
 
The Lady Rangers hung around in the first half despite the Tigers connecting on 7-of-15 attempts from behind the three-point line. East Central jumped out to a 23-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and continued to extend their lead into the second quarter.
 
After surviving a good offensive first half from the Tigers, the Lady Rangers went to work on the defensive side of the ball and began to chip away at the Tiger lead in the third quarter. Northwestern outscored the opposition by a total of 26-20 in the third quarter and trailed just 59-54 entering the final quarter of play.
 
A three-point play from Jones after drawing hard contact following a lay-up make brought the deficit to just two points. Both teams battled back and forth throughout the quarter before Northwestern finally took the lead at the 4:35 mark. East Central wouldn't go away easily however, as they tied the contest back up at 69-69 with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
 
A key lay-up from Otey and clutch free throws from Jones and Brown gave the Lady Rangers enough cushion to make the defensive stops needed to pick up the victory. Northwestern hit 29-of-32 free throw attempts along the way and will head to Southeastern Oklahoma State with a legitimate chance to get themselves into the GAC postseason tournament for the first time in program history.
 
The Lady Rangers will take on the Savage Storm in Durant tomorrow evening with the game set to tipoff at 5:30 p.m.