SENATOBIA - Trailing by four points at halftime, Northwest could not have opened the second half any better, as the Lady Rangers outscored Northeast 17-0 in the third period to pull away for a 76-50 victory on Monday evening's season-opener.

Northwest outscored the Lady Tigers 42-12 over the span of the second half, due in part to a combined 23-point effort over the final two quarters from sophomores Kolten Blakeney, Tierra Trotter and I'Yana Ragin. 

It took nearly two minutes for either team to score in the first quarter, but it was the Lady Tigers who struck first on a pair of free throws from Shandrea Watson at the 8:04 mark. Northeast would then get a layup from Calysia Phillips, before Northwest finally got on the board with a three-pointer from Ragin at the 7:28 mark.

Northeast would stretch its lead to nine points twice before the end of the first period, the Lady Tigers' largest lead of the contest. Trailing 16-7 with less than two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, a jumper from Jamia Chambers would spark an 8-0 run that would carry over into the second period and cut the deficit to one, 16-15.

A three-pointer from Brittney Oswalt would stop the bleeding for the Lady Tigers with 8:55 to go in the first half, with Northeast stretching its lead back to seven twice in the second quarter. Back-to-back three-pointers from Ragin would bring the Lady Rangers back within one, only for the Lady Tigers to go back ahead by six.

Northwest pulled within four as the first half expired, thanks to a pair of Maura Nunley free throws, as the Lady Rangers went into halftime with a 38-34 deficit. The freshman's free throws would quietly begin a 25-0 run that would carry over into the fourth period. Blakeney would open the second half with a pair of free throws and Trotter would tie the game at 38-38 with a layup, while Blakeney's jumper at the 5:15 mark of the third period would give Northwest its first lead of the game.

Another three-pointer from Ragin provided the exclamation point for the Lady Rangers at the end of the third quarter, as Northwest stretched its newfound lead to 13 points, 51-38.

Northeast would finally break the drought on a layup from Phillips with 7:56 left in regulation, but the Lady Rangers promptly responded with a three-pointer from freshman Claire Leak, pushing Northwest to a 20-point advantage. From there, the lead remained above 20 points the rest of the way, with a fastbreak layup from Ashanti High giving the Lady Rangers their highest lead at 28 points late in the contest.

Ragin led the scoring for Northwest, totaling 16 points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists. The Baldwyn native saw 12 of her points come from beyond the arc, netting four of the Lady Rangers' seven three-pointers on the evening.

Blakeney and Leak led the rebound column with seven apiece. Blakeney also finished with 14 points, mostly in the paint, while Nunley racked up 11 points and four rebounds in her debut. 

Northwest scored 35 points off the bench, led by Nunley's 11 and six points from Chambers. The Lady Rangers also got 28 points in the paint and outscored Northeast 24-6 in points off turnovers.

Northwest shot 36 percent from the floor and 19 percent from three-point range, compared to 27 percent shooting from Northeast and six percent (1-of-17) from beyond the arc. 

Phillips accounted for nearly half of the Lady Tigers' points, leading all scorers with 19. Kaitlyn Lindsey led Northeast with 12 rebounds, followed by 10 boards from Amaya Trimble.

Northwest (1-0) will travel to Holmes on Thursday, November 4 for a 6 P.M. tipoff in Goodman, facing off against Holmes coaches and Northwest women's basketball alums, Bridget Goodnight (1992-94) and Brooke Walker (2015-17). The Lady Rangers will then return to Howard Coliseum on Monday, Nov. 8 for a 5:30 tipoff against East Mississippi.

Thursday's meeting at Holmes will be streamed at holmesccmedia.com, while the Monday matchup against EMCC will be carried on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch) and Facebook Live.