SENATOBIA – Trailing by four at the conclusion of the third quarter, East Mississippi outscored Northwest 29-16 over the final 10 minutes of regulation as the Lady Rangers fell 71-62 on Thursday night at Howard Coliseum.

Northwest dropped to 2-2 in the MACJC North and 9-5 on the season. EMCC improved to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in division competition.

Taylor Fletcher got the Lady Rangers going to start the matchup, using a layup and a three-pointer to give Northwest its first five points. After three ties, the Lady Rangers broke a 9-9 deadlock with baskets from Tamarah Sykes and Ariel Tunstall to gain a slim 13-12 lead entering the second quarter.

A layup from Mallory Russell would give the Lady Rangers a four-point lead with 4:50 to go, their largest advantage of the first half. EMCC would retake the lead quickly though, as the Lady Lions used back-to-back buckets in the paint and a pair of free throws from Tye Metcalf to go up 24-22.

Trailing 26-24, Ariel Tunstall gave Northwest the final parting shot of the first half with a fast break layup at the 56-second mark to send both teams into halftime with a 26-26 tie. Sykes and Fletcher led the Lady Rangers with a combined 11 first half points.

Metcalf helped EMCC take over at the start of the second half, scoring six of the Lady Lions' first eight points to push Northwest into a seven-point deficit, 35-28. 

Northwest quickly answered back with a 14-3 run that was highlighted by back-to-back three-point baskets from Zanaiyah Daniel, which allowed the Lady Rangers to pull back ahead by four, 42-38, with 1:58 left in the third quarter.

Kayla Freeman's layup with 31 seconds left lifted Northwest to a six-point advantage but reigning MACJC Women's Player of the Week Ja'Mia Hollings would hit a pair of free throws at the end of the quarter to close the gap to four.

Daniel once again put the Lady Rangers up by four with her three-pointer at the 8:20 mark of the fourth, but an 8-0 run allowed East Mississippi to take a 57-53 advantage.

Northwest was unable to ever retake the lead despite twice pulling within two points, the latest being at the 3:48 mark with a 61-59 score. From there, EMCC closed out the contest on a 10-2 run and pushed its lead to 11 points before a late three-pointer from Daniel pulled the Lady Rangers back within single digits.

Daniel paced Northwest with all 15 of her points coming from beyond the arc. The freshman from Blue Mountain finished 5-of-6 from three-point range. Sykes led the Lady Rangers with 16 total points, followed by 10 from Tunstall. 

Four East Mississippi players reached double figures, led by 17 points and 10 rebounds from Hollings and 10 points with 11 boards from Maddie Riley.

Northwest shot 40 percent from three-point range and from the floor. EMCC finished with 47 percent shooting.

Nearly all of the Lady Rangers' points came off the bench (55), as three starters were held scoreless on the evening.

Northwest will aim to get back on the winning track on Tuesday, Jan. 21 against Mississippi Delta at Howard Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with broadcast and live stat links available at nwccrangers.com.