ALVA Okla: Northwestern Oklahoma State Lady Rangers returned to action after the holiday break Thursday evening with their third straight victory. Northwestern used a late second-quarter push to gain control of the game-opening a nine-point lead in which they would never trail again following the second Quarter. This would help lead to a 73-66 victory.
 

The Red-and-Black improve to 6-5 with the win and 2-3 in Great American Conference play as the Lady Rangers win their third straight overall second straight in the conference. 
 

Scout Frame led the offense with 24 points on 8-19 shooting, including 8-8 from the charity stripe. She was one of three double-figure scorers as Kinsey Neiderer finished with 15 points after hitting five three-pointers and Bailey Brown with 10. Brown led the team with eight rebounds on the night. Carly Craig led the team with seven assists. 
 

1st Quarter: 
 

Southern Arkansas opened the game with a quick three on a pass to the corner to take the first lead at 3-0. The Lady Rangers were held scoreless in the opening two minutes of the game before Brown broke the drought on a layup assisted from Craig. The Muleriders would take a 9-5 early on before the Lady Rangers made their mark. A quick 5-0 run by the Lady Rangers on a Pierce three followed by an S.Frame layup to give the Lady Rangers their first victory 10-9 halfway through the opening quarter. Southern Arkansas and Northwestern would trade three-pointers, with Neiderer hitting the final one to hold the Lady Ranger lead. Following back-to-back turnovers, for the Lady Rangers, the Muelriders would tie the score at 22-22. Neiderer would bury a three-pointer at the buzzer to take the lead at the end of the Quarter with a 25-22 lead. 
 

2nd Quarter: 

Northwestern struggled to start the second quarter after going just over two minutes scoreless. A Camille Thomas layup would silence the Muelrider run and push the Rangers back in front. This layup started a 7-0 run for the Lady Rangers capped off from a Craig three-pointer to push the Ranger lead to 32-26 to gain control of the game as the Lady Rangers would not trail again. Muleriders tied the score at 34-34, but S. Frame knocked down two foul shots to put the Lady Rangers back in front. The Red-and-Black would close the second quarter on an 8-1 run, topped off from Frame foul shots to build a nine-point advantage going into the break.
 

3rd Quarter: 

Southern Arkansas tried to make their run early in the second half, with the first five points having the Quarter cutting the Lady Rangers to four points. Josena Frame and Neiderer hit back-to-back three-pointers to quickly push the lead back to 10 at 52-42. Northwestern continued to run the pace of the game as the lead was extended to 14 following an S. Frame jump shot. A Neiderer three followed by two foul shots pushed the Ranger lead to 65-48, the largest lead to that point of the game. Southern Arkansas cut it to 14 at the end of the Quarter for a 65-51 lead. 
 

4th Quarter:

The defenses stepped up to start the Quarter as neither team hit a shot until the 8:12 mark of the Quarter on a Brown layup to push the lead to 67-51. The Muleriders would get the deficit to under ten as the Rangers held a 67-58 lead with 5:44 left in the game. They would get as close as seven at 67-60 before an S. Frame layup with 3:57 left in the game kept them away. J. Frame followed with a layup giving the Lady Rangers a double-digit lead again at 11 points. Northwestern would close out the victory 73-66 following an Andi Pierce layup. 
 

Northwestern will be back in action on Saturday, January 1st, welcoming in the New Year with a game against Arkansas Monticello with tip-off set for 1:00PM as the Lady Rangers look for their fourth straight win.