SENATOBIA – Looking to play its way into the fourth and final playoff spot in the north division, Northwest fell just short on Thursday night in a 65-60 loss to Itawamba.

Northwest's season came to a close at 11-10 overall and 5-7 in the north, while Itawamba improved to 16-6 overall, 11-1 in the division.

Both teams shot poorly the entire night, with rebounds proving to be extremely important in the final outcome. Itawamba's 28-10 edge in offensive rebounds and 57-40 overall rebound advantage allowed the Lady Indians to score 23 second chance points, the difference in the game.

Northwest trailed 35-26 at the half but fought to within 45-42 after three quarters.

Marlee Hatcher was the thorn in the Lady Rangers' side in the first half, with the sophomore going 7-for-13 with 16 points.

But Northwest held Hatcher to two points and without a field goal in the second half to eventually claw its way back from down as many as 10 to take its first lead with 9:16 to play.

Destiny Gardner had a big sophomore night, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and scored six straight to give Northwest a 48-45 lead.

Itawamba retook the lead 53-48 thanks to an 8-0 run but it was quickly answered by an 8-2 Lady Ranger run to put the hosts up 56-55 with 5:02 left.

Jabria Pounds and AaLiyaha Thornton combined to score the final 14 points for Itawamba and allowed the Lady Indians to close the game on a 10-4 spurt.

Janesha Johnson's 3-pointer with six seconds left cut it to 63-60 before free throws iced the win for ICC.

Deja Faulkner had 14 of her career-high 20 points in the second half to lead Northwest, followed by Gardner's double-double and 11 points and six assists from Averyale Joy. With the six dimes, Joy finishes her Lady Ranger career fourth all-time with 261 assists.

Pounds had 21 and 13 for ICC, followed by Hatcher with 18 and Zaida Cox with 12 off the bench.