FULTON – Although Northwest managed to recover from an abysmal second quarter, the Lady Rangers missed four critical free throws down the stretch, falling 66-64 to Itawamba in Monday evening's MACJC North Division debut.

Northwest fell to 7-4 on the season, its second consecutive loss, and 0-1 in division play. The setback also marked the seventh straight road loss to the Lady Indians.

Northwest got off to an electric start in the opening period as the Lady Rangers were seemingly unable to miss from beyond the arc, scoring 15 of the team's first 17 points from three-point range.

Despite holding a 17-6 advantage entering the second quarter, Itawamba quickly erased the deficit and embarked on a whopping 18-0 run through the first 5:24 of the second period, earning a 24-17 lead.

Zanaiyah Daniel finally stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer with 4:36 left in the first half but the Lady Indians continued to find their rhythm in the paint, as back-to-back layups from Lymyia Fifer and Tatyana Norment made it a nine-point deficit late in the first half.

Shimia Williams' jumper with 30 seconds left gave ICC its first double digit lead but a fast break layup from Taylor Fletcher with 17 seconds left sent the Lady Rangers to the locker room down nine, 34-25.

In all, the Lady Rangers were outscored 28-8 over the span of the second period, finishing the first half shooting 27 percent from the floor (9-33).

After Whitney Watkins gave ICC a seven-point advantage early in the third quarter, Northwest began to carve back into the deficit with a Mallory Russell layup and back-to-back baskets from Daniel, cutting the lead to one, 43-42. A pair of free throws from Morgan Hodum helped the Lady Rangers regain the lead at 44-43 with 3:15 left in the third.

Northwest didn't stop there however and continued its run, swelling the lead all the way to nine with a three from Lindsay Hall, setting the Lady Rangers up for a 54-47 advantage entering the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Tabreea Gandy quickly caught fire for the Lady Indians as the final period began though, scoring three baskets within the first five minutes to cut the Northwest lead back to one, 56-55. Gandy struck again on the next ICC possession, putting the Lady Indians ahead 57-56 on a fast break layup in the paint.

Daniel and Claire Fleming quickly responded with back-to-back threes but the Lady Rangers had no answer for Gandy, as the sophomore put Itawamba ahead 65-64 with 49 seconds to go.

Four missed free throws down the stretch ultimately doomed Northwest as the Lady Rangers went scoreless over the final 2:19.

Hall led Northwest with 14 points and shot 4-of-7 from beyond the arc (57%). Daniel finished with 13 points, including nine from three-point range, with Fletcher contributing 10 points in the loss.

Tamarah Sykes grabbed seven boards to lead the team in rebounding while Mallory Russell also collected six points and six rebounds.

Northwest finished 35 percent from the floor but shot 44 percent from three-point range, including a second half total of 57 percent from outside.

Gandy led ICC and all scorers with a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double, followed by 15 points from Williams and 10 from Fifer.