MOORHEAD – After trailing for most of Thursday night's road contest at Mississippi Delta, Northwest outscored the Lady Trojans 21-5 over the course of the fourth quarter to rally back for a 67-63 triumph.

Northwest improved to 14-8 overall and 6-5 in the MACJC North, but fell to fourth place in the division for at least a brief moment after Holmes (10-11, 6-4) defeated Northeast. The Lady Rangers will close out the regular season with Holmes on Monday, Feb. 17 at Howard Coliseum.

Although I'esha Mosby's three-pointer helped Northwest start the game on a 7-0 run, the Lady Rangers began to lose their grip on the seven-point advantage as the first quarter progressed. Up 15-8 with 3:27 left, Northwest was outscored 14-5 over the remainder of the opening period as Mississippi Delta took a 22-20 lead.

With the Lady Rangers unable to hit baskets in the early minutes of the second quarter, the Lady Trojans' run swelled to a 24-5 margin as Northwest fell further behind, 32-20. 

Zanaiyah Daniel finally stopped the bleeding with one of her three first half three-pointers at the 4:18 mark of the second quarter. MDCC responded right away with a pair of Sabreya Lee free throws to go back ahead by 11.

Antanisha Wade gave Mississippi Delta its largest first half lead of 13 on a jumper with 57 seconds left, but back-to-back shots from Daniel and Mallory Russell allowed Northwest to close the gap to eight at halftime, 39-31.

Northwest sliced further into the Lady Trojans' lead at the start of the second half with two quick scores from Mosby and Lindsay Hall, as the Lady Rangers pulled within four. 

Although a three from Taylor Fletcher allowed Northwest to come within three midway through the third quarter, Mississippi Delta came alive once again with a 13-4 run over the last four minutes of the period, regaining a double digit advantage on the Lady Rangers entering the final stanza of action.

Trailing 58-46, a made free throw from Kayla Freeman helped spark a new run from Northwest in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, as the Lady Rangers took advantage of a four-plus minute scoring drought from MDCC to tie the contest at 58-all with 5:34 left.

A three-pointer from Hall at the 4:07 mark gave Northwest its first lead since the waning moments of the opening quarter. The score would be tied once more at 63 apiece with 3:13 left, before Northwest took the lead for good off a pair of made free throws from Tamarah Sykes.

Though scoring remained light over the final three minutes of regulation, Fletcher helped seal the deal at the charity stripe by knocking down two free throws with eight seconds left.

Hall and Fletcher led Northwest with 10 points apiece, the fifth time this season that Fletcher has scored 10 or more in a contest. The Pine Grove product also reached the 10-point plateau for the first time since a Dec. 9 loss at Itawamba and the duo also combined for eight rebounds.

Additionally, Daniel provided nine points for the Lady Rangers while Russell came up just short of a double-double with eight points and 11 boards.

TeKeitris Honey led all scorers with 20 points for the Lady Trojans as teammate Wade added 17 points and nine rebounds.

Northwest shot 40 percent from the floor but finished 11-of-22 for 50 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Lady Rangers also collected 51 rebounds as a team and were boosted by 29 bench points.

Tipoff for Monday's regular season finale against Holmes is set for 5:30 p.m. Sophomore recognition will be held between the women's and men's games.

Links for live stats and a live broadcast will be available at nwccrangers.com.