SEARCY, Ark. – The Lady Rangers were ready to go up against the Lady Bisons of Harding University. Northwestern looked to get their first ever victory not only in Searcy but also against Harding in general. Harding was able to take control right before halftime in this game and never lost control as they led through the whole second half, finishing off with an 85-61 victory.
The Lady Rangers had three players reach double figures in the game; Kalea King, Jakeria Otey, and Presley Payahsape. King finished the night with 15 points and three assists, Otey finished with 14 points, two rebounds and two assists, and finally Payahsape 10 points and three rebounds.
This game looked to be a battle in the early going after a great first quarter followed by a tremendous start to the second had the game tied at 25 with 4:21 left in the first half. Harding would go on an 11-4 run to close the second quarter to open up a 36-29 lead which was never lost and extend to 24-point win.
Northwestern won points in the paint 22-18, the Lady Rangers got beat in bench points 27-17 and the Lady Bisons took advantage of their strong rebounding teams grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and winning the rebounding margin 45-27 leading to a 22-7 advantage in second chance points.
Otey would continue her success opening the game with a three off of pass from Bailey Brown. The Lady Rangers would start the game strong with three 3's from Otey, Payahsape, and Hilary Hurst to open an 11-6 lead halfway through the first. Harding would answer with a 9-1 run to build a lead of their own and eventually win the opening quarter 15-14. Northwestern would open the game 5-15 shooting for 33% including 3-6 from beyond the arc, while Harding went 6-of-15 including 3-11 from deep.
After sitting a while in the first from foul trouble Otey came right back in to start the second and opened another quarter with a three to give the Lady Rangers the lead again at 17-15. A three by Hurst and a layup by King had the lead was in favor of Northwestern, after a 9-0 run to build a 23-15 lead. However, Harding with have a big answer of their own getting it to 25 all. After that they responded with an 11-4 run to close the half and build a seven-point lead at the break.
Northwestern shot 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 for three. Harding shot 7-of-14 along with 3-of-7 from deep in the quarter.
The Lady Bisons' run late in the half would give them a 36-29 advantage at halftime over the Lady Rangers.
Harding wasted no time jumping out in the second half where they left off in the first opening up a double digit lead in the game 43-31 from a 7-2 run to open the quarter. Northwestern would get to as close as eight, from a Kenzi Lamer three pointer, however that would be as close as it got as Harding quickly had it back at 12-point lead from Cheyenne Brown jumper.
Their lead would get to as many as 13 in the quarter and would finish at 12 on a Brown layup for Northwestern as the Lady Bisons' led 60-48 after three quarters played. In the opening quarter of the second half Northwestern shot 6-of-15 and 3-of-6 from three.
The fourth quarter was mainly Harding as Northwestern could not find any sort of rhythm as Harding quickly got the lead to 15 in the quarter. Eventually they would open up that 20-point lead at the 3:24 mark left in the game and reached the peak which was at 25-point lead for Harding and would go on to win in Searcy. The lead would finish out being a 24-point victory.
Northwestern shot 4-of-15 in the quarter, with a 1-5 from three-point range. While Harding was 8-of-15 and 4-of-7 from deep.
Harding would win this one 85-61 over Northwestern, as Harding improves to 15-0 against Northwestern all time.
The Lady Rangers would finish the game 21-54, good for 38.9% from the field, 9-of-20 from deep, and 10-17 from the foul line. There was five lead changes with one tied score Thursday evening.
This loss drops Northwestern on the year to 9-8 and falling to 5-6 in Great American Conference play. Northwestern is now ninth in the GAC standings and one game behind the eighth and final spot for the playoffs behind Southern Arkansas.
