ALVA, Okla. – The No. 15 Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team defeated Henderson State, 68-47, behind a career-high 32-point performance from Kira Bass on Saturday afternoon. The victory moves the Lady Rangers to 12-2 on the season and 7-1 in Great American Conference play.

The Lady Rangers started off strong on both sides of the ball, as they opened the game up with a 13-0 run over the first five minutes with Kira Bass and Kennedy Hight scoring all 13 of the points. Bass continued to dominate inside, as she scored the final eight points of the quarter for Northwestern to put the Lady Rangers up 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Bass continued where she left off in the second quarter, as she scored inside on a layup to give herself 16 points and put Northwestern up by 16. The Lady Ranger defense continued to suffocate the Reddies on the perimeter, as they went 0-10 from beyond the arc in the first half. Jaida Shipp and Hight helped push the Northwestern lead up to 18 late in the half, but a Reddie free throw gave Northwestern a 34-17 edge going into the locker room.

The third quarter turned to a defensive battle, as Henderson State cut the deficit down to 10 with 3:11 to go in the quarter, but the Lady Rangers quickly responded as Bass and Summya Adigun each made pairs of free throws to strengthen the lead. Bass reestablished herself inside early in the fourth quarter with six straight points to bring the lead back up to 17 and didn't stop there, as the lead eventually grew as large as 27 with 3:47 remaining in the game. The Reddies tried to rally, but was too late, as the Lady Rangers won, 68-47.

In addition to her career-high in points, Bass also racked up a season-high 14 rebounds and blocked five shots to get her fifth double-double of the season. Conley Cayot led the Lady Rangers in assists with four, and also had a season high in rebounds with nine. The Lady Rangers also dominated in getting rebounds, as they finished with 59 boards while Henderson State had 21.

The Lady Rangers will be back in action on Jan. 15, when they travel to Monticello, Arkansas to take on the University of Arkansas at Monticello at 5:30 p.m.

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