Sara Lytle
Lee Adams / ICCImages.com
Sara Lytle had a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds at Itawamba.
72
Northwest NWCCW 7-1, 1-1
91
Winner Itawamba ICCW 8-2, 2-0
Northwest NWCCW
7-1, 1-1
72
Final
91
Itawamba ICCW
8-2, 2-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Northwest NWCCW 17 24 14 17 72
Itawamba ICCW 26 18 29 18 91

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | by Brian Lentz

Lady Rangers Suffer First Loss at Itawamba

FULTON – After being on the wrong end of a slow offensive start in the first quarter, the 25th-ranked Northwest Lady Rangers struggled to recover the rest of the way, falling 91-72 at Itawamba on Tuesday night.

The loss is the first of the season for Northwest and dropped the Lady Rangers to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in the division. Itawamba improved to 8-2 and 2-0 in the MACJC North Division.

Carried by aggressive play inside and early trips to the free throw line, the Lady Indians dominated the first quarter of play, jumping out to a 21-6 lead. Northwest then embarked on an 11-5 run over the last 2:45 of the period and closed the gap to 26-17.

Northwest continued to chip away at the lead throughout the second quarter, as a layup from BrayLee Landreth sparked an 11-0 run midway through the period that cut the Lady Indians' lead down to just 37-35 with just under three minutes to go in the half. Both teams traded buckets to close out the first half and Itawamba took a 44-41 lead into halftime.

Despite the promising second quarter, the Lady Indians turned up the heat in the second half and outscored Northwest 29-14 throughout the third quarter, extending the lead to 73-55. Itawamba remained in control through the final quarter of play to hand the Lady Rangers the loss.

Northwest was held to a season-low 30 percent shooting while being outscored in second-chance points (16-4) and bench points (53-10). Itawamba also outrebounded the Lady Rangers 67-40 and came away with 21 offensive rebounds, compared to just 10 for Northwest.

Sara Lytle led the Lady Rangers in the losing effort, leading all scorers with 21 points, eight rebounds and finished 9-for-11 from the charity stripe. Averyale Joy and Brianna Williams also reached double figures for Northwest, scoring 18 and 14 points, respectively.

Itawamba was paced by 19-point efforts from Iesha Mays and Jabria Pounds. Pounds also finished with a double-double, collecting 12 rebounds on the night.

Northwest will resume play on Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. at Arkansas Baptist, before continuing division play at Northeast on Jan. 12.