FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS - The Lady Rangers faced Harding in the semifinals of the Great American Conference tournament on Saturday afternoon. Harding used a strong second quarter, outscoring the Lady Rangers 17-7 to open the double-digit lead before closing out the 70-57 win over the Lady Rangers.
Northwestern's season ended at 15-15 following the loss to Harding. The Lady Rangers picked up the first conference tournament win since joining the GAC in program history this season.
The Lady Rangers were led in the game by Kira Bass with 23 points and six rebounds. Northwestern had two double figure scorers as Carly Craig finished with 18 points adding six assists.
The first quarter started with the Lady Rangers hitting back-to-back shots, both by Kira Bass, to help Northwestern jump out to a 4-0 lead. Harding's first points came on a Josie Williams three-pointer. Bass scored the Lady Rangers' first six points of the game before Payton Jones made her first basket. Harding tied the game at 8-8 and took their first lead at 10-8 following a shot by Sage Hawley completing the 5-0 run. Lilly Mahy gave the Rangers the lead again off a steal by Camille Thomas, leading to two points. The teams battled back and forth, trading baskets as Harding closed the quarter with a 17-15 lead over the Lady Rangers. The two teams shot well in the first quarter as Harding shot 50%, with the Lady Rangers at 45.5%.
Northwestern in the second quarter gave up a 7-0 run to start the quarter in the first five minutes of the second to take a 24-15 lead over the Lady Rangers. Kira Bass ended the run, putting back the offensive rebound with a putback layup. However, Jaiden Thomas of Harding buried a three-pointer to give the Bisons their first double-digit lead of the game at 10. After Northwestern had cut the deficit to seven, the Bisons closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to build a 12-point lead over the Lady Rangers. Craig hit the final shot as Northwestern trailed 34-22 at the halftime break.
Sage Hawley scored the first seven points of the third quarter to open an 18-point lead before Kira Bass ended their run three minutes into the quarter. Harding's largest lead was 20 points twice as Kabrich finished a layup for the 47-27 lead. Carly Craig hit a three-pointer as Northwestern started a 5-0 run, trying to cut into the deficit. Northwestern was able to get it to 12 on a Jaida Shipp put back layup before a buzzer beat three-pointer by Katelyn Kabrich put the Bisons back up by 15 heading to the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Hawley opened the scoring, trading baskets with Bass as the Bisons answered each Ranger's shots. Craig had her best quarter in the fourth, finishing with 11 points in the quarter as she hit two three-pointers. After her first three-pointer and fifth straight point, the Lady Rangers got as close as 13 in the fourth quarter, but Harding pushed the lead back to 16. Craig's final three-pointer pushed the game to its final score at 70-57 in Fort Smith.
The Lady Rangers' season comes to a close in the semifinals against Harding, following their loss in the GAC tournament. The championship game is Sunday afternoon Harding against Southeastern. The semifinals appearance was the first for the Lady Rangers in the GAC tournament.
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