GOODMAN – Mercades Ward hit an off-balance, 10-foot jumper as time expired for two of her game-high 12 points to lift Northwest over Holmes 57-55 Saturday afternoon at Frank Branch Coliseum.

Northwest improved to 7-6 overall and 3-1 in the north division with the road victory, moving into a tie with Northeast for first. Holmes fell to 7-6 and 2-2 in division play. 

The teams exchanged 10 leads and the score was tied 12 times, but it was Northwest who held Holmes without a field goal for the final 2:41 and 2-of-11 down the stretch.

Shelbi Buford's 3-pointer with 1:47 left gave Northwest a 55-53 lead. Holmes then had a chance to tie or take the lead with 21 seconds left when Kameli Lacy was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Lacy hit the first and third attempt to tie the game at 55-all before Ward's game-winner.  

The Lady Bulldogs led 33-31 at half and Northwest led 45-43 after three quarters on Emily Bush's late jumper.

The largest lead for either team was six in a close and even matchup throughout and both teams shot 36 percent. Northwest was 7-of-14 from the charity stripe, while Holmes was just 8-of-17. 

Kayla Bradley had 11 points behind Ward's 12 and Buford added nine big points off the bench, all from downtown.

Lacy and Ja'Breonia Veasey had 11 apiece to lead Holmes. Nina Carpenter added a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with eight points and seven blocks.

Northwest will play its third game in five days on Monday, traveling to Coahoma (2-11, 0-3) for a 6 p.m. tipoff. Live video and live stats will be available through nwccrangers.com.