SEARCY, ARKANSAS - Northwestern Oklahoma State Lady Rangers were on the road Thursday evening against the Harding Bisons. Northwestern earned the 63-61 victory over Harding snapping the 33-game home win streak. Lady Rangers used production off the bench outscoring Harding 27-5 off the bench leading to the win.

The Lady Rangers improve to 10-9 on the season with a 7-6 GAC record while Harding falls to 15-4 on the year with an 11-2 GAC record. With the Northwestern win the two teams split the season series 1-1.

Northwestern had a wide balanced scoring in the road victory with 10 different players scoring. Camille Thomas led the team with nine points and eight rebounds in the win. Payton Jones, Jaida Shipp, and Kira Bass each had eight points. 

Harding opened the game with the first five points of the night before Kennedy Hight scored four straight points for the Lady Rangers with back-to-back shots inside the paint. Harding pushed their lead to five but the Lady Rangers had an answer each time this one from Tegan Jones and Kira Bass. Harding's largest lead of the quarter was nine points at 17-8 but a Carly Craig three-pointer followed by Lily Mahy for three had the Lady Rangers within two. Northwestern trailed by two heading into the second quarter down 18-16. 

Payton Jones hit the first points for Northwestern in the second quarter which was enough to tie the game with a three-pointer at 19-19. Jamesha Reece scored her two points in the second quarter following a missed shot for the offensive rebound put-back layup. Payton Jones gave the Lady Rangers their first lead of the game at 22-21. Harding regained the lead pushing out to a 32-28 lead with 1:19 left to play in the opening half before Camille Thomas and Payton Jones sent the game into the break with a tied 32-32 score. The Rangers defense forced back-to-back turnovers on Harding allowing the Lady Rangers to head into the break even. 

Harding started the second half hot with eight straight points on the Lady Rangers taking a 40-32 lead after hitting back-to-back three-pointers as Maddi Holt hit the second one two minutes into the half. It was Tegan Jones who was able to slow down the Harding run and get the Lady Rangers on the board. After three forced turnovers and the Lady Ranger defense forcing three misses back to back three-pointers second one from Lilly Mahy tied the score back at 40-40 with 5:18 left in the third quarter as the two teams traded 8-0 runs. Harding closed out the third quarter with an 11-6 run hitting a three-pointer as the Lady Rangers trailed 51-46 heading into the fourth and final quarter. 

Northwestern took advantage of opportunities inside the paint to start the fourth quarter as Bass and Shipp scored back-to-back points helping the Lady Rangers get back within two points with 6:17 left in the game. After a two-minute scoring drought between the two teams, it was Tegan Jones tied the score at 54-54 with 4:14 left to play after a layup of a defense rebound. Kira Bass pushed the Lady Rangers in front off an assist from Tegan Jones for the 56-54 lead. With Northwestern in front by one point out of the timeout it was Isabella McPherson buried a three-pointer from the left wing that sent the Lady Ranger up by four. The Bisons scored four straight points to tie the score at 61-61 with 10 seconds left in the game. Northwestern missed the layup before Jaida Shipp cleaned up the miss with a put-back layup and the 63-61 lead with two seconds left in the game. Northwestern forced a miss at the buzzer as the Lady Rangers sealed the two-point victory ending the Harding home winning streak and picking up their first win in Seary, Arkansas at Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

Northwestern will look to make it two straight victories on Saturday afternoon against Arkansas Tech in Russellville, Arkansas. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 PM.

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