Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Okla. – A slow start was too much for the Northwestern Oklahoma State University women’s basketball team to overcome Thursday evening inside Percefull Fieldhouse as the Lady Rangers fell to Harding 71-57 in Great American Conference action.

Northwestern’s record dropped to 6-12 overall this season and 3-8 in the GAC, while the visiting squad Harding improved to 12-5 overall and 7-4 in the conference. The Lady Rangers will return to action Saturday afternoon for the second game of the homestand when they host Arkansas Tech at 1 p.m.

Despite being within reach much of the first three quarters, the Rangers struggled to score the ball on the offensive end of the floor, shooting just 32-percent for the game.

Bailey Brown led the Rangers with 17 points and five rebounds and Kalea King had 10 points in the game as the only other double-figure scorer for Northwestern. Senior Jade Jones put in eight points, Deja Beechum had five points off the bench as did Kenzie Mize.

One of the best rebounding teams in the conference, six Harding players had five or more rebounds in the game, led by the conference’s leading rebounder Kellie Lampo. Carissa Caples was the leading score for the Lady Bisons with 17, including three three-points.

The Lady Bisons set the tone early in the game with the first eight points before Brown got the Lady Rangers on the board with an offensive board and put back. On the next Northwestern possession, King hit a jumper in the paint, followed by a blocked shot on the ensuing Harding possession by Brown that eventually set up her own basket on the offensive end to make it a two-point game.

However, Harding came back with nine straight to stretch the lead to 17-7 with a minute remaining in the first. Jakeria Otey quickly ended the run thought with a three-point basket to cut the lead to 17-9.

In the second quarter, the Lady Bisons extended its lead to 16 midway through the quarter. Northwestern settled down and made it a 10-point ballgame yet again as Beechum hit a shot from behind the arc, and following a Harding layup, Jones came down and hit a three-point basket as well.

At the end of the first half, the Lady Rangers trailed Harding 36-25.

Northwestern was able to get to within eight in the third quarter, the closest it had been since the first, following five straight from Brown, including a long range basket with two minutes remaining. But Harding answered to make it a 12-point difference heading into the final stanza, 51-39.

Harding came out firing to being the fourth quarter with a 15-3 run over the first four and a half minutes to stretch its lead to 64-42. Freshman guard Kyleigh Leverich found Brown open for an open three to stop the run.

The Lady Rangers closed the fourth with the final 10 points of the game, including three pointers by Mize and Leverich, and free-throws from Beechum and Selena McDonald. Northwestern was 9-for-12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.