Alva Okla. – The Lady Rangers return home this week for the final two games of the season. They will take on Arkansas Tech Thursday and Harding University on Saturday as they seek revenge from two earlier season losses. Saturday will be senior day as we honor, the two seniors in Kalea King and Jakeria Otey Saturday before the game! Northwestern split last week in the two games winning at Ouachita and then losing at Henderson State. 

The Red-and-Black will come into Thursday's game with a 12-14 season record and carry an 8-12 Great American Conference record that has the team sitting in ninth place, one game in front of 10th place East Central and two games behind 8th place Southern Arkansas who clinched the final playoff spot this past Saturday.

Northwestern is led by Tasha Diesselhorst, who is in her fourth season with the Lady Rangers. She led Northwestern to the team's first conference tournament appearance since joining the Great American Conference last season. Diesselhorst has a 46-68 record with the university. 

Kalea King has a slight edge over Bailey Brown, as she is Northwestern's leading scorer at 14.5 points. She is coming off of a 24 point performance Saturday against Henderson State, a game she also reached the milestone 1500 points in her career. Brown is second at 14.2 points per game. She will be coming off a 20 point performance as well. Hillary Hurst continues to raise her average with five consecutive double-figure scoring performances averaging 15.2 points per game in that stretch. Brown leads Northwestern in rebounding with 7.2 per game followed by King and Hurst with 5.2 and 5.0 respectively. 

Arkansas Tech  (16-8, 13-7):

Northwestern will play host to Arkansas Tech Thursday evening for the first of the two home games this week. Tech will come into the game with a 16-8 record on the season and a 13-7 conference record, which has them in fifth place in the conference.    

Arkansas Tech comes in led by Dave Wilbers. He is finishing up his 13th season with the program. He holds a 284-74 record with the University in these 13 seasons. 

The Red-and-Black trail the history between the two teams as the Golden Suns come into this matchup on a 12-game win streak between the two teams including a win earlier this season back in January. Northwestern's last win against Arkansas Tech came back in January of 2014 in Alva. Overall, the Golden Suns lead 12-1 over the Lady Rangers. 

The Golden Suns captured the first meeting between the two teams using their defense and rebounding to win. First, they forced the Lady Rangers off balance as they struggled offensively shooting 31% from the field and 20% from behind the arc. Arkansas Tech shot 45.6% from the field. Secondly, Arkansas Tech outrebounded Northwestern 52-22. King and Kenzi Lamer led the Lady Rangers in scoring with 13 points each for the only two double-digit scorers for the Lady Rangers. Tech had four scorers in double figures during the first meeting. 

Kaley Shipman leads the Golden Suns in scoring with 13.0 points per game as one of four double-figure scorers. She is followed by Jayana Sanders who adds 11.3 points, KeVonashaye Stackhouse at 11.0 per game and lastly Sarah Heard at 10.2. Lycla Peevy leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 per game followed by Stackhouse at 6.1 and Heard at 5.4 rebounds per game. Sanders leads the team with 118 assists on the season for the Golden Suns. 

After three games losing streak for the Golden Suns they have responded in a positive way by having back to back wins by at least 15 points or more. They beat Southern Nazarene by 21 points and Oklahoma Baptist by 15 points. 

How the teams compare:

The Lady Rangers will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. at Percefull Fieldhouse right here in Alva. Fans can watch the game at https://www.youtube.com/user/NWOSURangers or listen to the game http://mixlr.com/classic-hits-1057-krdr/  and lastly follow the game https://riderangersride.com/sidearmstats/wbball/

Harding: (18-8, 15-5) 

 The Lady Rangers will play their final game of the 2019-2020 season here in Alva on Saturday afternoon. Harding comes into the game 18-8 on the season, along with 15-5 in the Great American Conference which has them currently first in the conference. 

Tim Kirby is the head coach for the Bisons, as he is currently finishing his 15th season with the university. He has led the Bisons to 11 straight GAC tournament appearances. 

The Lady Rangers will go into Saturday's matchup looking for their first win over the Bisons. Harding comes into the game leading the History between the two teams 15-0 after winning the first game of the season 85-61 back in late January.

Northwestern had three double-figure scorers in the first game in King as she led with 15 points followed by Jakeria Otey and Presley Payahsape. Harding outrebounded the Lady Rangers 45-27 including grabbing 19 offensive rebounds, for 22 second-chance points in the win. They had four players in double-digit scoring to help lead a balanced attack with Carissa Caples and Amanda Kearney lead the way with 19 each. 

The Bisons have three players averaging double figures per game. As Caples leads the team in scoring with 14.3 per game, followed by Cheyenne Brown 13.1, and Jordan Elder at 10.3 points. Peyton Padgett averages 6.7 rebounds followed by Jacle Evans at 6.1 per game. Lastly, Padgett leads the team in assists with 106 on the season for the Bisons. 

Harding comes into the Saturday game as the hottest team in the Great American Conference. After their January 4th loss to Southeastern, they went on to win nine straight games and 12 of their last 13 games. Their most recent a 22 point win over Oklahoma Baptist. 

How the teams compare: 

The Lady Rangers will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. at Percefull Fieldhouse right here in Alva. Fans can watch the game at https://www.youtube.com/user/NWOSURangers or listen to the game http://mixlr.com/classic-hits-1057-krdr/  and lastly follow the game https://riderangersride.com/sidearmstats/wbball/