MONTICELLO, Ark. – Northwestern coming off a tremendous win Thursday night over Southern Arkansas looked to carry the momentum into this one. In an extremely tight battle throughout the entire game the Lady Rangers dropped a heartbreaking game on a tough call that sent the Blossoms to line for the eventual winning foul shot to put Arkansas-Monticello on top 57-56.
 
Bailey Brown led all scorers with 20 points and Kalea King joined double figures with 11 points. Senior, Jakeria Otey added 8 points along with 7 rebounds in this game.
 
In an excellent defensive game by both teams not allowing either opponent to find any rhythm offensively caused a back and forth game the whole way that was decided in the final seconds. As Arkansas-Monticello led 56-54 with 11 seconds to go Presley Payahsape was fouled and forced to the line as she knocked down both shots from the charity stripe to even the score at 56. After a Monticello timeout they went to Kayla Bradley who drove to the line and drew a foul with under a second left in the game. She went to the line and hit 1-of-2 giving the Blossoms the 57-56 victory.
 
The game would open up with a Brown layup off of a Bradley turnover giving the Lady Rangers the opening lead. Monticello would answer with a quick 6-0 run off of two turnovers. NWOSU would shoot 6-14 from the field in the opening quarter leading to 13 points early on. The Lady Rangers zone defense caused problems for Arkansas- Monticello forcing them to 35% shooting. They were able to find a way to knock down three 3-pointers to get nine of their 13 points from after coming into the game shooting only 28% from there. This game would be even at 13-13 after one quarter of play.
 
In the second quarter Arkansas-Monticello briefly won 16-14 to give them a slight halftime edge. The Lady Rangers shot 6-11 from the field in the quarter, however the Blossoms were able to shoot a slightly better 58% from the field. The second saw a lot of turnovers forced by these defenses and saw 3 lead changes. Payahsape hit a mid-range jumper to close the half and bring the Lady Rangers within two.
 
The Blossoms led the Lady Rangers 29-27 at halftime.
 
Arkansas Monticello would control the third quarter for the majority of the time until late in the quarter. With the Lady Rangers trailing 42-39 with 2:51 left to play Brown would hit two free throws and a jumper to give NWOSU a 43-42 lead. After Jaida Muhammad of Arkansas Monticello went 1 for 2 at the line to even the score, the play of the game for the Lady Rangers happened. Kyleigh Leverich off the fastbreak after receiving the pass from Kenzi Lamer, Leverich crossed over her defender creating open room and drilled a buzzer beater three to give the Lady Rangers a 46-43 lead going into the final quarter. NWOSU would shoot 6-9 for 66% in the quarter to gain control of the lead, while forcing Monticello to a low 35% from the field.
 
The final quarter featured a lot of defense, as the Lady Rangers held the Blossoms to 4-12 shooting but Arkansas- Monticello was able to hold Northwester to 1-11 shooting for 9% from the field. Outside of foul shots to open the quarter the first shot was not made until four minutes into the final quarter as Arkansas- Monticello would open up on a 6-0 run to gain the lead back at 49-46. There were three ties after that point in the game but Northwestern could never get the lead back. Bradley, guard for Arkansas Monticello was able to give them a win on a last second foul shot causing Northwestern to fall in heartbreaking fashion.

Northwestern would finish the game 19-45 good for 42% from the field, 3-6 from 3-point range, and 15-18 from the foul line. The Lady Rangers were forced into 25 turnovers which allowed for Arkansas- Monticello to get 13 points off of turnovers. The Blossoms would finish 21-52 for 40%, 6-23 from deep for 26% and 9-16 from the foul line.

The loss drops Northwestern to 7-5 on the season and 3-3 in Great American Conference games. The Lady Rangers will have their first home game of the new year Thursday night against Henderson State at 5:30pm in Percefull Fieldhouse.
 
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