SENATOBIA - Northwest's starting five made all the difference in the Lady Rangers' 72-64 win against Holmes on Thursday evening.

All but one of the Lady Rangers' 72 points were scored by the starting lineup, led by 22 points from freshman guard Tierra Trotter and 17 from Curenity Emerson.

With the victory, Northwest evened its record to 1-1 on the season, while Holmes dropped to 3-2 overall.

I'Yana Ragin got the Lady Rangers off to the hot start with the game's opening basket, a three-pointer that came 14 seconds into the contest. Northwest would eventually push its lead to eight, 19-11, on a three from Trotter with 3:55 left in the first quarter.

Holmes rallied back with a 7-1 spurt to trim the lead to 20-18, but two baskets from Ragin and Sha'Kirria Everett allowed the Lady Rangers a six-point advantage at the end of the quarter.

Northwest maintained its lead for most of the second quarter until the clock ticked under the one-minute mark, when Holmes took a 35-32 halftime lead on back-to-back jumpers from Tninyah Jones.

Northwest opened the second half with a statement, embarking on a 10-0 run that was capped off with a Kolten Blakeney layup and her first points of the evening. From there, the Lady Rangers' lead swelled to 10 points on a fastbreak layup from Trotter with 3:17 to go in the third quarter.

Holmes had no intentions of going down quietly though, as the Lady Bulldogs came roaring back once more on an 11-1 run that tied the contest up at 49-all.

With four seconds to work with, Trotter ended the Lady Bulldogs' run in top-play fashion, hoisting a three-pointer that landed as the buzzer sounded, allowing Northwest to jump back on top, 52-49.

Holmes managed to tie the game twice in the early minutes of the fourth quarter and although the Lady Bulldogs hung around by less than 10 points, Northwest never surrendered the lead again. Emerson's three-pointer at the 5:42 mark put the Lady Rangers up by seven points and Holmes came no closer for the rest of the night.

In addition to dominant performances from Trotter and Emerson, Everett also finished with 14 points, followed by 11 from Ragin and seven from Blakeney, who also led the team with four blocks and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Bunch was one of three Holmes players to reach double figures, leading the way with 13 points. Jalaceia Smith and Morgan Williams topped out at 11 and 10 points, respectively.

As a team, Northwest shot 42 percent from the floor and 35 percent from beyond the arc. The Lady Rangers also accounted for 32 points in the paint.

Northwest will take its first road trip of the season on Monday, February 8 at Mississippi Delta. Tipoff from Moorhead is slated for 6 p.m.