SENATOBIA - Despite holding a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter of Tuesday's MACCC matchup against Holmes, Northwest fell victim to a 28-14 scoring surge over the final 10 minutes of regulation, as the Lady Rangers were handed a 62-57 loss.
Not only did the Lady Bulldogs hand Northwest its first conference loss of the season, Holmes also picked up the season sweep against the Lady Rangers, after also earning a non-conference victory back in November. Northwest dropped to 6-7 overall (2-1 MACCC), while the visitors improved to 8-10 on the season and 1-2 in the MACCC.
An old-fashioned three-point play from
Aaliyah Taylor and a basket from
Alorian Story made it a 5-0 lead for the Lady Rangers early in the first quarter, and Northwest led 12-6 midway through the period. However, Neveah Craft's three-pointer kick-started the Holmes' offense and the Lady Bulldogs soon tied the game at 14-14.
Scoring was hard to come by for both teams over the final two minutes of the first quarter, with Taylor's layup being the lone basket at the 56-second mark. Leading 16-14, Northwest held Holmes scoreless over the first 3:50 of the second period, with Bella Roberts' layup being the ice-breaker for the Lady Bulldogs.
Although the Lady Rangers led by nine with 4:32 left in the first half, Holmes cut into the deficit slightly over the final minute of the second quarter, thanks to a pair of buckets from Satiya Johnson and Julissa Claxton. Meanwhile, Northwest scored just once over the final four minutes and went into the locker room with a 27-22 lead.
By the late stages of the third quarter, the Lady Rangers took their first double-digit lead of the night, as back-to-back jumpers from
Takera Bland gave Northwest a 39-29 advantage. Though Hannah Finley responded with a three-pointer on the other end for the Lady Bulldogs, Northwest built the lead back to a 43-34 margin, thanks to a pair of free throws from
Anaria Lee.
Finley once again started off the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, bringing Holmes back within six. Later, Craft drained another deep basket at the 7:05 mark, bringing the Lady Bulldogs back within four, 44-40.
Jamaiya Hasley tried to get the Lady Rangers going with a quick layup on the other end, but back-to-back layups from Holmes closed the gap to two points with 5:40 left to go.
Even as the Lady Bulldogs continued to fight back, Northwest maintained the lead for most of the fourth quarter. However, that all changed with 2:01 remaining in regulation as a Lady Rangers' turnover led to a layup from Roberts, pushing Holmes to a narrow 53-52 advantage.
A free throw from Craft and a layup from Kiara Shelly stretched the Lady Bulldogs' lead to four with less than a minute remaining. Though Story closed the gap to two points with a pair of free throws, Craft's layup made it a 58-54 lead with 39 seconds left.
Needing a big basket with 17 seconds left, Taylor drew the foul on a three-point attempt, hitting all three free throws and closing the gap to one point. However, Northwest was forced to foul on the other end and Kamren Edwards hit both free throws, pushing the Lady Bulldogs' lead back to 60-57 with nine seconds left. Taylor went for the game-tying three-pointer with four seconds left, but the shot was no good.
Holmes then got the rebound and a foul with one second left, hitting the extra two free throws to put the cherry on top of the Lady Bulldogs' road conference win.
Northwest shot 36 percent from the floor, but were 0-for-7 from three-point range. Meanwhile, Holmes shot 36 percent on its end and 32 percent from beyond the arc, while finishing 12-for-19 on free throw attempts.
Both teams finished near even in points in the paint, points off turnovers, second chance points and fast break points, but one of the most notable differences came in bench points. The Lady Bulldogs outmatched Northwest 16-9 off the bench, led by eight points from Finley.
Another glaring difference came in the fourth quarter, where the Lady Rangers shot just 20 percent from the floor, compared to 50 percent from Holmes.
Story's 12-point, 14-rebound double-double led the charge for Northwest, while
Mariah Reed-Jones totaled 11 points and six rebounds. Bland finished just shy of a double-double, earning 10 points and nine boards, while Taylor rounded out the top scorers with 10 points of her own.
Shelly led Holmes with 14 points and five rebounds, followed by 13 points and a whopping nine assists from Craft. Roberts also finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
Next up for Northwest is a road trip to Jones College (3-12, 0-3 MACCC), scheduled for Thursday, January 23. The Lady Bobcats are in the midst of a seven-game losing skid, most recently falling 71-47 to Mississippi Gulf Coast on Monday.
In the all-time series, Jones College holds an 18-7 lead against the Lady Rangers. Last year's meeting saw Northwest take a 63-48 victory on February 1, 2024.
Thursday's game will tipoff at 5:30 P.M., with live coverage on
jcbobcats.com/watch. Tickets are also available
here.
