ADA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team fell to East Central, 61-56, on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Rangers and Tigers battled back-and forth in an early defensive struggle, with East Central leading 7-6 before going on a 7-2 stretch to take a 14-8 lead late in the opening quarter.
Jaida Shipp scored on back-to-back possessions to put the Lady Rangers within four, but the Tigers went on an 8-2 spurt to lead 24-14 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Northwestern crawled back into the game on an 8-3 stretch with Shipp,
Kennedy Hight, and
Catyn Graham all knocking down shots to close the gap down to seven points. After a bucket from
Madison Denison, East Central went on a 10-4 run to expand the lead to 13 going into the locker room.
East Central quickly pushed the lead up to 15 in the third quarter, by the Lady Rangers came storming back with
Kira Bass extending possessions and scoring on putbacks to cut the deficit to 11. The Tigers pushed their lead up to 18 points on a 7-0 run midway through the quarter, but the Lady Ranger defense suffocated the Tigers for the final 5:07 of the quarter and did not let them score another point. Bass continued to hammer away in the paint, and the Lady Rangers found themselves down 50-38 going into the fourth quarter.
Bass attacked the paint early in the fourth, and
Summya Adigun did the same to bring the East Central lead back within single digits, but the Tigers responded with a three to go back up by 12 with six minutes to go. Bass continued to lead the rally with shots inside, and a three from Graham cut the lead down to 10 with 3:19 to go.
Keely Hussey got the lead down to eight on a layup with over a minute to go, and Adigun buried a triple to bring the East Central lead down to five with 35 seconds left. The Lady Rangers continued to rally with long jumper from Graham, but Northwestern fell to the Tigers, 61-56.
Bass led the Lady Rangers in scoring, rebounds, and assists with 16 points, nine boards, and three assists. On the defensive side, Hight and Adigun led in steals with three each.
The Lady Rangers will be back in action on February 16, when they take on Southeastern Oklahoma State University inside Percefull Fieldhouse at 5:30 p.m.
For the latest news and updates on NWOSU, follow @NWOSUAthletics on TWITTER or visit www.riderangersride.com
