ARKADELPHIA, ARKANSAS - The Lady Rangers completed their trip to Arkadelphia on Saturday afternoon against Ouachita Baptist. The Tigers used a strong third quarter to take the lead on the Lady Rangers before closing out an 87-80 victory.
The Lady Rangers are now 20-4 overall on the season with a 12-4 conference record.
Northwestern was led in scoring by Josena Frame with 18 points while adding three steals in the game. She was one of four double figure scorers as Payton Jones added 16, followed by Faith Simpson with 15 and Carly Craig with 11.
Ouachita Baptist scored the game's first point from the foul line before knocking down a jump shot for an early 3-0 lead. The run stretched to 6-0 after a three pointer by Laney Mears. Frame was the first on the Rangers to score with a jump shot assisted by Carly Craig as she scored the Rangers first four points over the opening five minutes. The two teams traded basket for basket as the Tigers continued to maintain their six point lead throughout the opening quarter. Nikya Orange hit a layup assisted by Payton Jones with 17 seconds left in the quarter to put the Rangers back within five heading into the second quarter.
Summya Adigun started the second quarter with a jump shot to close the gap within three at 18-15. However the Tigers continued to answer back pushing the lead back to six at 28-22 before the Lady Rangers made a push. Northwestern scored six straight, started by Frame to tie the game at 28-28 with 2:40 left in the opening half. After the Tigers went back up 32-28 Northwestern answered with four straight as well to tie it going into halftime. Carly Craig and Talayah Thomas each scored in the final minute to tie the game.
In the opening three minutes of the second half the two teams battled back and forth and a Simpson jumper tied the game back at 36. The game stayed tied a minute later after Frame hit a three to answer Ouachita's three pointer as the game was locked at 41-41. Simpson scored four straight to put the Rangers back in front at 45-43, which was followed by a Payton Jones three pointer as the Lady Rangers looked to widen the gap. However the Tigers answered though with a 10-0 run late in the third quarter which pushed the Tigers in front at 56-48 with 1:15 remaining in the quarter. Overall the Tigers closed the quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 58-51 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers kept the momentum on their side with a strong opening start to the fourth quarter opening a 12 point lead, their largest to that point in the game as a three pointer by Winfrey gave them the lead opening the quarter on a 5-0 run. Simpson ended the Tiger run with a jump shot which was followed by a three pointer from Paige Scott to cut the deficit down to seven and back into single digits. With five minutes left in the fourth quarter the Tigers led by eight 69-61 as the Rangers started to climb back and shrink the gap. Shots by Josena Frame and Payton Jones had the Rangers back within four at 69-65 but the Tigers quickly answered, pushing it back to 10 points at 75-65. Northwestern answered with a 7-0 run to shrink the gap back down to three at 77-74 with 1:36 left in the game and got as close as two. However the Tigers closed out the win over the Rangers with a couple of foul shots for the 87-80 victory over the Lady Rangers to snap Northwestern's win streak.
The Lady Rangers are back home on Thursday February 15th against Southwestern Oklahoma State for the rivalry matchup in Percefull Fieldhouse. Tip-off scheduled for 5:30 PM.
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