FORT SMITH, Ark. – For the first time, the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team is heading to the NCAA Division II Tournament after defeating Southeastern, 71-64, to win their first Great American Conference championship.

The Lady Rangers found themselves in an early 5-0 hole 45 seconds into the game, but they quickly rallied to tie the game at 7-7 behind five points from Kira Bass. Bass knocked down a pair of free throws, and Summya Adigun buried a three to give Northwestern a 12-7 advantage midway through the opening quarter. Northwestern and Southeastern continued to trade baskets throughout the rest of the period, with Northwestern up 19-16 after 10 minutes of play.

Northwestern's lead continued to grow, as Catyn Graham nailed a triple to put Northwestern up by six, but the Savage Storm cut the lead down to two with 5:50 to go in the first half. The Lady Rangers answered back with a 7-0 run led by Bass and Graham to expand the Northwestern lead to 33-24. Northwestern continued to smother Southeastern, as they only gave up three points in the final five minutes of the quarter to give Northwestern a 36-27 lead at halftime.

Both teams continued to grapple for momentum at the start of the second half, with Madison Denison extending the lead up to 12 midway through the third quarter for the largest lead of the quarter. Southeastern responded with an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to four, but Graham, Adigun, and Kennedy Hight making big shots to keep Southeastern at bay going into the fourth quarter.

The Savage Storm continued to try to close the gap, but Bass and Adigun kept making free throws to keep Northwestern ahead by nine with eight minutes to go. The Lady Ranger lead ballooned back to 11 with 3:38 remaining in the game after two consecutive layups from Jaida Shipp and a putback from Bass, and Shipp attacked inside the paint to score the final five points to put the game away, as the Lady Rangers captured Northwestern's first GAC title with a 71-64 victory.

Bass led the Lady Rangers in scoring with 24 points and racked up 11 boards for her 14^th double-double of the season, while Denison led in rebounds with a season-high 13 rebounds. Shipp and Adigun led in assists with three each, and the Lady Rangers had three double digit scorers, with Shipp scoring 14 and Adigun putting in 11.

The Lady Rangers will be back in action on Friday, as they will make their first appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament, with a time and opponent to be announced later tonight at 9:30 p.m.

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