ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team fell in a tight battle against No. 2 Pittsburg State, 68-64, in overtime on Thursday. The loss drops the Lady Rangers to 2-1 on the season.
The Lady Rangers and Gorillas went back-and-forth to start the game, with both sides trading baskets for the first five minutes. From the five-minute mark, the Lady Rangers went on an 8-0 run behind three pairs of free throws and
Jaida Shipp bucket to take a 15-7 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter. The Gorillas eventually fought back to only trail 15-13 at the end of the first.
The Lady Rangers held their ground in the second quarter, as
Kira Bass dominated inside with six of her seven points in the quarter coming inside the paint. At the end of the first half, Northwestern still had a two-point advantage, 28-26.
The third quarter got off two a great start for Northwestern, with three different Lady Rangers scoring to extend the lead back to eight at the 7:36 mark. The Gorillas tried to cut into the deficit, but
Catyn Graham responded with a massive three-pointer to bring the Lady Ranger lead to 43-34 with three minutes to play in the quarter. Pittsburg State made another push late in the third to dwindle the Lady Ranger to 45-40 going into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Ranger defense continued to shut down the Gorillas, as the lead fluctuated between five to seven points for most of the quarter. A late three-point barrage by the Gorillas capped a 10-2 run late in the game to give Pittsburg State its first lead since the second quarter, 58-56. The Lady Rangers needed a shot with under 30 seconds left, and
Conley Cayot delivered by putting back her own shot to tie the game at 58. Northwestern stifled the Gorilla offense on the final possession of regulation, and dragged Pittsburg State into overtime.
The overtime battle raged on, with the Lady Ranger containing the key stops and Cayot nailing another jumper to tie the game at 60 with 2:23 to go. The Lady Rangers kept fighting, but a Pittsburg State three-pointer with 39 seconds left in the game gave the Gorillas the victory, 68-64.
Summya Adigun led the Lady Rangers in scoring and rebounds with 17 points and 11 boards in her first double-double of the season. Adigun and Cayot led the team in assists with each having two. Cayot led Northwestern in blocks with two, while three different Lady Rangers had two steals on the night. Adigun and Cayot also played for over 40 minutes, with Adigun playing in a career-long 43 and Cayot playing for 45.
The Lady Rangers will be back in action on Nov. 22, when they take on the Larks of Hesston College inside Percefull Fieldhouse at 3 p.m.
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