BETHANY, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Lady Rangers were on the road for a match-up of ranked undefeated teams Saturday afternoon. The Crimson Storm got the win over Northwestern following a second quarter out scoring the Lady Rangers 23- 6 in the quarter before closing out an 18 point victory over the Lady Rangers.
The loss snaps Northwestern's eight game win streak to start the season moving to 8-1 on the year with a 2-1 GAC record. Southern Nazarene wins their ninth straight to go to 9-0 with a 3-0 conference record.
The opening quarter went back and forth between the two teams in a very defensive first quarter. Simpson got the scoring started first first for the Lady Rangers tying the game back at two in the first quarter. Northwestern continued their run in the opening quarter after Craig finished a pull up floater followed by a Simpson jump shot as Northwestern led 6-2. Syncere Harrod scored her first point from the foul line after taking her first trip to the line. The score was even at nine after Nikya Orange finished a layup off a Crimson Storm miss but Emily Monaghan drilled a three to tie the game.Southern Nazarene continued their run taking a 12-9 lead with 1:22 remaining in the first before a quick two baskets by the Lady Rangers pushed the lead back in favor of Northwestern at 13-12 following Craig's second shot of the quarter. Northwestern held a one point advantage after the first.
Southern Nazarene took advantage of the second quarter as the Crimson Storm pushed a big run to take control of the game. Monaghan started the quarter with a driving layup assisted by Giddey to push their lead back to 14-13. Reither finished off a three pointer to start a 10-0 run by the Crimson Storm. The Storm defense held the Lady Rangers to 0-5 shooting over the four minute span, and forcing three Lady Rangers turnovers. Southern Nazarene took a 24-15 lead over the Lady Rangers following the run. Camille Thomas ended the run with a two point jump shot, but SNU answered with five straight to take their first double digit lead of the game at 29-17. Southern Nazarene closed the half on an 8-2 run to take a 35-19 lead into the halftime break as the Lady Rangers trailed by 16 points.
At the beginning of the second half Southern Nazarene was the first to score on a driving layup to push their lead to 18 points. After leading by 19 with 7:26 left to go in the third quarter a three pointer by Monaghan for her twenty second point of the afternoon the Crimson Storm extended their lead 45-23 pushing it over 20 for the first time of the game. Syncere Harrod stopped the Crimson Storm run, cutting the deficit back down to 18. As the Lady Rangers continued to try to cut the deficit back down Carly Craig drilled her first three pointer and the team's first with 22 seconds left in the third quarter as the Lady Rangers trailed 49-32 at the end of the third.
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter Southern Nazarene was able to extend their lead back to 20 following a three pointer from Carley Gasaway for a 54-34 lead. As Northwestern started their next push, this one started by Faith SImpson as a jump shot for her 10th point of the afternoon started a 7-0 run and 9-2 overall to get as close as 13 points. Simpson led the team with six points on the run and a Craig three on perfect 4-4 shooting for the Lady Rangers in the three minute stretch. However Southern Nazarene had the answer, pushing the Storm lead back to 20 following a 6-0 run to take a 65-45 lead over the Lady Rangers. Southern Nazarene finished the win by a final score of 65-47 over Northwestern Saturday afternoon.
Northwestern will return to action on Wednesday evening at home against McPherson College with tip-off set for 5:30 before returning to conference play Saturday afternoon against Southeastern.
