DECATUR - Sophomore
Claire Leak recorded a season-best 12 points for Northwest, but the Lady Rangers came up on the short end of a 54-48 loss at East Central on Monday evening.
Northwest fell to 6-11 on the season and 1-7 in conference play with the loss, as East Central moved to 6-10 overall and 3-4 against MACCC foes. The loss marked the seventh straight setback for the Lady Rangers.
East Central jumped out to a 5-0 advantage before
Rebekah Pilcher broke the Northwest scoring drought with 6:59 left in the opening quarter. However, the Lady Warriors stretched their lead twice to nine points, ending the quarter with an 18-9 advantage.
Kamyia Russell made it an 11-point deficit for Northwest to open the second quarter, only for the Lady Rangers to slowly crawl back within striking distance. After trailing 26-15 with 5:22 left, Leak caught fire with a three-pointer, a layup and a pair of free throws, helping Northwest back within two with less than a minute left before halftime.
Though Kenedee Shelton sank a three-pointer on the other end, Leak responded with one of her own to send Northwest to the locker room down two, 29-27.
Things did not go as planned for East Central entering the second half, as the Lady Warriors failed to score a single basket for nearly seven minutes. During the cold snap, Northwest was able to not only take the lead, but back-to-back baskets from
Zoe Essary helped the Lady Rangers build a nine-point lead, 38-29.
However, the fun didn't last much longer for Northwest. With 4:25 left in the third, Shelton's jumper finally woke up East Central, which spent the remainder of the quarter slicing the deficit to one, 39-38, entering the fourth period.
Neither team scored within the opening two minutes of the fourth, but a three-pointer from Lexus Keyes allowed the Lady Warriors to regain a 41-39 advantage with 7:44 to go. From there, the Lady Warriors stretched their lead to seven.
Aside from Pilcher's three-pointer with nine seconds left, Northwest failed to score a single basket other than free throws throughout the course of the fourth quarter. The freshman's basket cut the deficit to five, giving the Lady Rangers an outside shot to force overtime, but Shelton sank one of her two free throws after a foul, putting the game on ice with six seconds remaining.
East Central outscored Northwest 16-9 in the fourth and the Lady Rangers went 1-of-19 from the floor in the quarter. For the evening, Northwest shot 26 percent from the floor and three-point range.
Aside from Leak's efforts, Pilcher also totaled nine points for Northwest, followed by seven from Essary. For Jenkins, it was a mixed night, as the freshman forward was held scoreless for the first time in her career, despite pulling down a season-high 16 rebounds.
Shelton led East Central with 19 points, while Kaedre Denson fell short of a double-double, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds. Additionally, Keyes also contributed 10 points for the Lady Warriors.
Northwest will continue searching for the win column on Thursday, February 2, as the Lady Rangers host Hinds for a 5:30 P.M. tipoff at Howard Coliseum. The Lady Bulldogs (2-14, 1-6 MACCC) are in a losing skid of their own, having lost their sixth straight in a 66-44 decision against Mississippi Gulf Coast.
