MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball team dropped a critical road contest on Saturday afternoon to Southern Arkansas by a final total of 84-64.

With both teams entering the contest in a three-way tie for the final spot in the Great American Conference postseason tournament at 6-10 in conference play, the home court advantage proved to be the difference in the game as the Muleriders took an early lead and never looked back. Freshman Kinsey Neiderer led Northwestern scorers with 17 points and three rebounds on an afternoon in which the Okarche native made 6-of-13 attempts from the field.

Freshman Selena McDonald was the only other scorer in double digits for the Lady Rangers as she posted a final total of 11 points while the squad shot 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field on the day. Junior Jade Jones had nine points and two assists while McDonald collected a team-high four rebounds.

A 7-0 run midway through the first quarter forced a Lady Rangers timeout at the 2:32 mark of the opening quarter trailing 17-8. Five early turnovers for Northwestern allowed the Muleriders to capitalize in transition and put together the run that gave them the early nine point advantage.

Northwestern continued to struggle on the offensive side of the ball and went scoreless in the final 4:35 of the first quarter. That scoring drought allowed Southern Arkansas to extend their lead to 21-8 at the end of the opening quarter of the contest.

Neiderer finally got some points on the board for the Black-and-Red with a three-point make just seconds into the ensuing quarter. That early bucket wasn't enough to slow the Mulerider momentum in the second quarter as the home squad extended their lead by as many as 15 at 30-15 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.

Neiderer's 11th point of the half at the brought the margin back down to 33-22, but Southern Arkansas continued to score at an efficient pace and took a 51-28 lead into the half. The Lady Rangers continued to struggle in the second half against a Mulerider offense that shot 55.2 percent (32-of-58) for the game from the field and couldn't muster up enough offense of their own to get themselves back into the contest. Despite outscoring the home team in the second half by a total of 36-to-33, Northwestern couldn't work the scoring margin back to single digits at any point during the half.

Two Muleriders scored 20-plus points on the afternoon as the Lady Rangers will now have some major work to do in the final five games of the season if they hope to clinch their spot in the postseason tournament. Southern Arkansas forced the Lady Rangers into 25 total turnovers for the game and out-rebounded the Black-and-Red by a final total of 31-to-19.

Northwestern will attempt to make a late-season charge into postseason play beginning on Thursday night at Oklahoma Baptist with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m.