ALVA, Okla. — Mulerider Women's Basketball was back in action on the road, as Southern Arkansas traveled to Northwestern Oklahoma State for a Thursday night matchup with the NWOSU Rangers. While the Muleriders attempted a second half comeback, the Rangers were able to fend off the Blue and Gold in a 75-68 final score.
Southern Arkansas was led in scoring by both Marlee Bright and Kennedy Moss, as the two each accounted for 14 points and 50% from the field. Once again, Bright led the team in rebounds with seven, while also leading the game in steals with six.
The Muleriders and the Rangers started the night off in a back-and-forth first period, which saw four lead changes in the first eight minutes. NWOSU ended the first eight minutes with a 10-9 lead, that the group extended to an eventual 14-10 at the end of the period.
The Rangers took that momentum from the last two minutes of the first period into nearly the entire second period, as NWOSU snatched a 12-point lead at 29-17. The Rangers barely yielded their lead for the remainder of the period, as the two groups went into the intermission up ten, with a lead of 35-25.
Nearly a minute and a half into the second half, NWOSU raised its lead to 11 points, 39-28, but this is where the Muleriders began their climb back into the contest. After that, Southern Arkansas went on an 10-0 stretch and brought the game back within one point at 39-38. SAU then managed to score just three more points with a Blythe Crawley three-pointer, but would be outscored 9-3 for the remainder of the period, down 48-41 heading to the fourth.
Northwestern would go on to not hold back the Muleriders, but instead went back-and-forth, as neither team was able to stop the other from scoring with both accounting for 27 points each. With just two minutes left in the game, NWOSU went back up 12, but SAU attempted another comeback, bringing the game back within seven, 71-64. The Rangers did not allow a comeback that time, but instead kept countering the Muleriders' scoring with their own for the 75-68 final.
Up Next:
The Muleriders next test stays in West Oklahoma, as the Blue and Gold head south to play the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs in Weatherford, Oklahoma on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
