BOONEVILLE – Using a strong fourth quarter effort, Northwest outscored Northeast 21-9 over the final eight minutes of regulation to earn a 60-52 win on Tuesday night.
Northwest improved to 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the MACJC North with its second consecutive win, surpassing last year's overall win total. The loss dropped Northeast to 2-11 and 0-3 in division play.
Trailing 18-10 late in the first quarter, the Lady Rangers closed out the opening period on a 6-0 mini-scoring burst to close the gap to 18-16.
Replicating her effort from the first quarter, Dominique Caldwell continued to be a thorn in the side of the Lady Rangers in the second quarter, scoring 13 first half points for the Lady Tigers.
Despite shooting just 34 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the free throw line in the first half, Northwest never fell behind by much and trailed just 32-28 at the break.
Northwest quickly came out of the locker room on a high note, outscoring Northeast 6-2 in the first two minutes of the second half to tie the game at 34 apiece.
Trailing 43-39 entering the final quarter of action, the Lady Rangers began to find their footing midway through the fourth, as
Lindsay Hall gave Northwest its first lead of the game, 49-48, off a pair of free throws with less than four minutes to go.
Northeast responded with points on its next possession, only to see Northwest regain a 51-50 lead on a basket from
Morgan Hodum. From there, the Lady Rangers hit several clutch free throws and made defensive stops to end the game on a 9-2 run.
Mallory Russell led Northwest with 10 points and seven rebounds, scoring eight of hers in the first half, while
Taylor Fletcher finished with nine points and four assists.
Zanaiyah Daniel and
Tamarah Sykes added eight points each, while Sykes also collected seven boards.
Caldwell paced Northeast with 19 points on the evening, finishing as the only Lady Tiger in double figures. The rebound category was led by seven boards from Tekeria Newson.
Northwest will return home to Howard Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 16 against East Mississippi at 5:30 p.m. Links to live stats and live broadcast can be found at nwccrangers.com.
