ALVA, OKLAHOMA - Northwestern Oklahoma State Lady Rangers closed out their home portion of the schedule on Thursday evening. Northwestern fell 60-47 to the Crimson Storm Thursday for the team's first home loss of the season snapping their home win streak. The Lady Ranger led throughout the first half before Southern Nazarene took the lead in the third and held on in the fourth.
Overall Northwestern is 23-6 on the season with a 15-6 conference record. The Lady Rangers finished 13-1 overall at home this season.Â
Northwestern had two double figure scorers in Faith Simpson and Payton Jones with 18 and 10 points in the game. Simpson had a team high eight rebounds.Â
The Crimson Storm opened the game with a three pointer by Abbie Jiles which pushed Southern Nazarene on the board early. Payton Jones answered back with five straight points for the Lady Rangers to give the game its first tie since the opening tip-off. A 7-0 run started by Faith Simpson pushed the Lady Rangers in front for the home team's first lead of the game at 14-9. Syncere Harrod picked up her first steal of the game helping lead the fast break to Talayah Thomas as the Lady Rangers carried momentum. Hannah Giddey put a stop to the Lady Rangers run after the Northwestern lead reached five sending the game to the end of the quarter with Northwestern holding a three point advantage at 16-13.Â
Simpson kept the momentum with the Lady Rangers with an early basket to start the second quarter and take an 18-13 lead. Northwestern's defense continued to get the job done causing problems for the Southern Nazarene offense forcing three turnovers and holding the Crimson Storm scoreless until the 5:10 mark of the second quarter. However, Northwestern had four points in the quarter to that point, having a seven point lead at 20-13. Giddey silenced the Lady Ranger run to put Southern Nazarene back within five. Nikya Orange and Carly Craig picked up back to back steals to lead to Craig's first points of the game and build an eight point lead at 26-18 for the Lady Rangers. Southern Nazarene grabbed the quarter's last four points on back to back shots by Giddey as Northwestern led at the break 26-22. Â
Craig traded points to start the third quarter as the Lady Rangers continued to hold the four point advantage. The game remained 28-24 most the way through the third quarter until the 4:45 mark when Southern Nazarene scored two points before a three pointer by Emily Monaghan gave the Crimson Storm the lead 29-28 for their first since the opening quarter. Northwestern was held at 28 until 2:59 left in the third quarter when Faith Simpson ended the scoring drought. Southern Nazarene then hit two three pointers scoring nine straight to build a 39-30 lead over the Lady Rangers. The Crimson Storm hit a three pointer in the final 10 seconds of the quarter to carry a 42-35 lead into the final quarter of the game.Â
Simpson scored early in the fourth quarter trying to bring the Lady Rangers back, cutting the deficit to five but the defensive battle continued as the game stayed 42-37. Southern Nazarene continued to build off their third quarter extending their lead to double digits for the first time at 48-37. They held onto the double digit lead to close out the game after the Rangers got it to nine but the final score was 60-47 in favor of the visitors.
Northwestern will close out the regular season in Durant, Oklahoma against Southeastern Oklahoma State before starting the conference tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 PM.Â
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