Rangers race by Lady Eagles in star alum's return as coach
December 7, 2017
OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 5, 2017) – Oklahoma Christian struggled on both offense and defense Tuesday night against Northwestern Oklahoma State and that's obviously not a good combination.
Often frustrated by a gimmick defense, the Lady Eagles shot just 36.3 percent from the field and were outrebounded 52-38 as Northwestern – coached by former OC All-American Tasha (Turney) Diesselhorst – left the Eagles' Nest a 98-84 winner.
Northwestern (5-4) led most of the basketball game and held off every potential run by OC (1-8). The Rangers used a box-and-one defense to limit OC's leading scorer, Addy Clift, to just six points through three quarters, although the junior guard finished with 22 as OC unsuccessfully scrambled to get back in the game late.
Freshman point guard Maddison Collyer played well for OC, with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds. But Clift and Collyer were the only two Lady Eagles who scored in double figures and that wasn't enough against a Northwestern team that shot 44.8 percent.
Kinsey Neiderer led the Rangers with 23 points, going 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and Bailey Brown added 21 points and nine rebounds. Bailey Forell had 13 points on 3-of-6 3-point shooting and Jade Jones added 12 points and 12 assists. Selena McDonald had nine points and 11 rebounds for the Rangers.
OC's only leads came early and the last one came at 11-10 on a three-point play by Clift at the 5:45 mark of the first quarter. Northwestern scored the next 12 points and never was headed.
The Lady Eagles pulled within 45-40 when Megan Shelton opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but Neiderer answered with two 3-pointers for Northwestern. OC rallied within 64-58 on a free throw by Katie Mayo with 1:22 left in the third quarter before the Rangers scored 13 straight, including a buzzer-beating steal-and-3-pointer by Jakeria Otey at the third-quarter buzzer.
Even with Clift – who's won the Heartland Conference player-of-the-week honor each of the past two weeks – getting untracked offensively, the Lady Eagles came no closer than 10 points in the fourth quarter.
The game marked Northwestern's first visit to OC since the 2011-12 season, when both schools were members of the NAIA and Sooner Athletic Conference. Northwestern now is in NCAA Division II and the Great American Conference.
OC will host another former SAC and current GAC program on Saturday, when longtime rival Southern Nazarene will visit the Eagles' Nest for a 1 p.m. contest.
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