SENATOBIA – Abbreanna Miller scored a career-high 18 points as Northwest won its fifth straight game in defeating north division foe Itawamba 68-66 on Monday night.

Northwest improved to 10-6 overall and remained tied with Northeast atop the MACJC North Division standings with a 5-1 record. ICC fell to 9-6 and 3-3 on the season.

Miller got the Lady Rangers on the board with a layup right out of the gate and Northwest led by as many as seven midway through the first quarter.

Itawamba, however, slowly worked the lead down and tied the game at 16-all to close out the opening period.

ICC carried over the momentum and led for the majority of the second quarter. Shaniyah Buford's three-pointer with 25 seconds left helped the Lady Indians match their largest lead of seven, before a layup from Kayla Bradley cut the lead back down to 39-34 at halftime.

Much like the second quarter, ICC led for a majority of the third as well, aside from a brief 48-45 lead from Northwest midway through the quarter.

Northwest was finally able to take the lead for good with 2:25 left to go, thanks to a clutch three-pointer from Chrissah Shaw and a layup from Miller that pushed the lead to three at 67-64 with 1:44 left.

Northwest led 68-66 with 21 seconds left, as ICC had two chances to tie or win the game. The Lady Indians, however, would miss a jumper and a three-point attempt and Mercades Ward would collect the rebound, as the Lady Rangers held on for the win.

Miller complemented her career-high point total with eight rebounds and three blocks. Bradley also netted 15 points, while Shaw totaled 13 points and six rebounds. Ciara Pettis also pulled down eight boards in the win.

Three Lady Indians finished in double figures with 15 points from Constance Dunn, 10 from Shaniyah Buford and a double-double from Taneshia Miller (13 points, 11 rebounds).

Northwest shot 39 percent from the floor and just 10 percent from three-point range, but used a 9-2 run down the stretch to close out the game.

Next up for the Lady Rangers is a road contest at East Mississippi (8-7, 3-3 north) on Thursday, Feb. 1. Tipoff in Scooba is set for 5:30 p.m. and can be viewed at emccathletics.com/live.