BOONEVILLE – Northwest led for all but 58 seconds in regulation and seemed to be well on its way to a big road victory, but 26 missed free throws allowed homestanding Northeast to steal an 88-82 victory Monday night in overtime at Bonner Arnold Coliseum. | Final Stats

Northeast evened its season record to 4-4 overall and 1-1 in the north while Northwest fell to 7-2 overall and also 1-1 in division play.

Northwest led by as many as 16 with 15:42 to play, but the Lady Tigers continued to chip away at the double digit lead thanks to a couple key three-point baskets and timely turnovers.

Northeast put together a 13-4 run to get within seven, 54-47, before Northwest countered and pushed the lead back out to 65-51 with 6:07 left in regulation.

Free throws then became a huge issue down the stretch for the Lady Rangers and allowed Northeast to stay alive. Northwest hit just 7 of 22 from the stripe in the second half and missed seven of its final 10.

A 14-4 run over the final 4:44 allowed Northeast to tie the game at 71-71 with 6.2 seconds left before Northwest drew a foul call on the other end and had a chance to win it.

With 0.3 seconds left on the clock and the former Tiger Nikki McChristian on the line, both free throws rattled around the rim and out as the teams went to overtime.

In the extra period, Northeast clearly had all the momentum. The Lady Tigers hit 7 of 9 shots from the floor and outscored Northwest 17-11 to earn the 88-82 come-from-behind win.

Northeast shot 60 percent for the game and owned the rebounding edge, 57-33. Northwest closed the night shooting 41 percent from the floor, but hit just 13 of 39 free throws in a gut-wrenching loss.   

McChristian led all scorers with 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals for Northwest with Bethany Lytle and Tiesha Tunstall adding 13 and 11 points. Northeast had five scorers in double figures, led by LaTonya Gadison's 17 and Talisa Boyd's double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds).

Northwest forced a season-high 39 turnovers on the night to push its season average to 26.4/game.  

The Lady Rangers return to Howard Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. against East Central.

Live video www.ihigh.com/nwccrangers and stats www.sidearmstats.com/northwestms/wbball available.