Second Half Struggles Hand OBU Home Loss

SHAWNEE - Up 55-54 late in the third quarter, 13-0 run from the end of the quarter to the start of the fourth quarter proved to be too much for the Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball team to overcome as they fell to the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers 76-71 on Saturday afternoon at the Noble Complex.

OBU shot 27 of 66 (41%) from the field, but was hot from behind the arc, going 11 of 24 (56%). The Bison only got to the free throw line eight times, shooting 75 percent. On the other side, the Rangers shot 26 of 61 (43%) from the field including 6 of 22 (27%) from the field. Northwestern was the aggressor, getting to the free throw line 26 times while shooting 69 percent from the free throw line.

The Bison took the early 5-0 lead with defensive stops and a lay in from Mikayla Shulanberger and a 3-pointer from McKenzie Cooper. OBU pushed that lead to 9-3 in the first off four straight points from Jaylin Stapleton.

A 3-pointer from Kaydee Banks pushed the lead to 14-7 as the Bison were in control in the early goings. Northwestern would close the gap to three points, but a lay up from Schulanberger gave OBU a 19-14 lead at the end of the first.

Kalifa Ford got the lead back to seven to start the second before a quick 7-0 run by the Rangers evened the game at 21 a piece. The two teams exchanged punches before back-to-back 3-pointers from Cooper followed by another lay in from Shulanberger got the lead back out to 31-26. However, a 10-2 run gave Northwestern the lead at 36-33 before a three from Shulanberger evened the game at 36 al going into the break.

The third quarter would be a back-and-forth affair early on as Stapleton knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to take a 42-40 lead. The two teams continued to battle it out, never taking a lead more than two points in the process with OBU holding a 55-54 lead with under two minutes to play after a Ugochinyere Nwarie lay in.

From there, OBU went cold going into the fourth quarter as they could not buy a basket while Northwestern took advantage with a 13-0 run to break the game wide open at 67-55. OBU finally ended the run at the five minute mark and got it down to four points with with just under a minute to play, but it was too little, too late as the Rangers escaped Shawnee with the five point win.

Stapleton had a solid all-around contest to lead OBU with 17 points, nine boards, six assists, two steals, and two blocks while Cooper had 16 points to go with three assists. Shulanberger scored 12 points while Ford had 11 points, four assists, four rebounds, and four steals. Nwarie scored 11 points off then bench to go with eight rebounds. 

Kalea King led Northwestern with 25 points and 10 rebounds while Bailey Brown added 13 points and 11 rebounds to go with three steals.

OBU moves to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the GAC. They will look to bounce back on Tuesday evening as they head to Talequah for a 7 p.m. match-up against Northeastern State.