PITTSBURG, KANSAS - Northwestern Oklahoma State Women's Basketball faced Pittsburg State Gorillas Thursday evening. A slow start hurt the Rangers as Pittsburg State capitalized to a 21 point lead. A Lady Rangers comeback fell short after getting as close as four but the home team closed out the 88-72 win.
Northwestern falls to 2-2 on the season, as # 8/13 Pittsburg State improves to 5-1 on the year.
The Rangers were led by Summya Adigun as one of four double figure scorers. Adigun had 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. Payton Jones had 11 points followed by Camille Thomas, and Kira Bass with 10 each. Rangers had 11 team steals led by Carly Craig with four.
After a scoreless opening minute Pittsburg State was the first on the board with a three point play as Gerber finished home a layup and a foul shot for the early 3-0 lead. Payton Jones put the Lady Rangers on the board for the 3-2 score. An 11-2 Pittsburg State run pushed the lead to double digits for the first team as the home team led 14-4. A Gorillas three pointer had the Rangers trailing by 13 before a mid range jump shot from Camille Thomas ended their run. Kennedy Hight had two of her nine points to cut the deficit back to single digits. Pittsburg State led by as many as 14 points before Jaida Shipp off an assist by Carly Craig finished a layup as the Rangers trailed 26-14 through one quarter.
To start the second quarter a three pointer by Harper Schreiner pushed the Gorillas to their largest lead at 31-16 at the time a 15 point advantage. A 7-0 run by Pittsburg State pushed the Gorillas in front 39-18. After the home team held the 21 point lead through the four minute mark of the quarter the Lady Rangers chipped into the deficit before the half. Started with a Kira Bass layup opening a 6-0 run cutting the deficit to 15 points. In the final minute of the half Payton Jones and Summya Adigun helped close the quarter with three more straight points for a 10-3 run as the Rangers were down 13 at the break with a 45-32 score.
The third quarter, Northwestern was able to continue to dive into the deficit opening with points from Camille Thomas.After Pittsburg State pushed the lead back to 16 the Rangers went on a 8-0 run over a four minute stretch. Adigun scored eight straight points for the Lady Rangers bringing the score to 50-42 before Grace Pyle hit a three pointer to push the deficit back to 11. Rangers forced three steals as Kira Bass keep the Rangers in striking distance with five straight points with her final put back off the rebound cutting the deficit to five points the closest the Rangers were since the opening quarter.
In the fourth quarter Pittsburg State scored 7 of the first nine points in the quarter taking the lead back to double digits at 67-57 but Carly Craig and Payton Jones brought it back to five after five quick points trailing 69-64 with 5:17 left in the game. Rangers trailed 74-68 before Pittsburg State used a 12-0 run to put the game away after two three pointers pushed the score to 86-68 with a minute left in the game. The home team closed out the win 86-70 after four straight points from Hight.
The Rangers return to action on Monday evening in Lawton, Oklahoma for a non-conference game against Cameron Aggies with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 PM.
