Left: Junior Bailey Brown goes for a lay-up with defense from the Harding Lady Bison Saturday. The final score was 75-74 in Harding's favor. Right: Sophomore Kyleigh Leverich shoots for a three pointer putting the Lady Rangers in the lead in the first half of Saturday's game against Harding.
Lady Ranger freshman Lexi Wall plays a fierce defense against a Harding Lady Bison Saturday in Alva.
ALVA, Okla. – The Lady Rangers were set to take on Harding University for the final game of this season. Seniors Jakeria Otey and Kalea King were honored before the game started and would each start for one final time with the Lady Rangers.
Harding used an 11-2 run midway through the third to climb back in the game and regain the lead. Northwestern would drop a heartbreaking game 75-74.
Bailey Brown finished the game leading Northwestern in scoring with 20 points. King completed the game with 19 points, while Hillary Hurst rounded out the Lady Ranger double-figure scorers with 10 on the afternoon. Brown and King led the Red and Black with nine rebounds each, while Kaylyn Maple finished with eight. Kyleigh Leverich finished the game with four assists to lead the Lady Rangers, while also knocking down three 3-pointers to finish with nine points.
Hurst got things started by scoring the first four points of the game for either team, being aggressive with two layups. Harding was ready to attack, though going for five straight to grab their first lead. After the Lady Rangers used a 7-0 run to gain a little separation at the moment, Carrissa Caples hit back-to-back shots from behind the arc to bring the game back within three. Northwestern held the three-point lead after one.
The Rangers would open the second quarter with three straight three-pointers, two by King and the third by Lexi Wall to give the Rangers a double-digit lead at 30-20 forcing a Harding timeout. Out of the timeout, Harding would rattle off seven straight points before a King jumper would end their run. A 9-2 run would send the Rangers right back up double digits. A Hurst layup would send the Red and Black into halftime leading by seven.
Lady Rangers led Harding 39-32 at the half.
Second Half
The Bisons opened the third quarter on a run to get within one possession, however a Leverich three and Brown layup sent the Lady Rangers back up six. Caples once again hit back-to-back threes to put the Bisons in the lead for the first time since the first quarter from a 7-0 run. After the game evened back up at 51, Brown scored four straight points to close the quarter out and send the Lady Rangers into the final quarter with a four-point lead at 55-51.
Harding used a 6-0 run early in the fourth quarter to even the score at 59-59 with seven minutes left in the game. From that moment on the deficit from either team was never more than three, along with featuring six ties and five lead changes to close the game out. Two King foul shots and a layup from Brown would give the Lady Rangers a 74-73 lead with 30 seconds left. However, Harding's guard Caples would have the final say by hitting the go-ahead basket with just over 20 seconds left, giving her 30 points on the afternoon. The score hdld there as Harding held on for the one-point victory.
Lady Rangers fell 75-74 Saturday afternoon to the Bisons.
The Lady Rangers finished the season with a 13-15 record and a 9-13 conference record. The Red and Black finished the year ninth in the Great American Conference. The 13 wins on the season are the most for the Lady Rangers since the 2011-2012 season.
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