SUMMIT - Northwest was held under 10 points in the second and third quarters of Monday's road contest at Southwest Mississippi, as the Lady Rangers dropped a 73-46 loss in the regular season curtain-closer.
Mariah Reed-Jones led Northwest with 12 points and
Takera Bland provided a team-leading six rebounds, as the Lady Rangers fell to 10-14 on the season and 6-8 in the MACCC. With the win, the Lady Bears moved to 17-10 overall and 7-7 in conference play.
Southwest Mississippi came out of the gates red hot, taking an early 8-2 advantage. Northwest trailed 15-10 at the end of the opening quarter, only to be on the wrong end of a 22-9 run in the second quarter, which sent the Lady Rangers to the locker room down 37-19.
Unfortunately, the start of the second half also began on a sour note for Northwest, as the Lady Rangers went nearly six minutes without a basket.
Shiloh Hatch finally broke up the scoreless drought at the 4:06 mark of the third quarter, but the Lady Bears used an 11-0 run to stretch the lead to a 48-21 margin.
Despite outscoring Southwest Mississippi by a 20-17 margin in the fourth quarter, Northwest was unable to fight back from a 30-point deficit.
Shooting was not great for the Lady Rangers, as Northwest finished just 27 percent from the floor and 17 percent from three-point range. In comparison, the Lady Bears shot 56 percent on the evening, including a solid 6-for-12 from beyond the arc.
Aside from Reed-Jones' 12 points,
Layla Hampton added 10 and Bland finished with seven points. Hatch also provided five points off the bench to go with four rebounds.
Kara Beth Addison led Southwest Mississippi with 21 points, followed by 10 from Gracie Miller. Two more Lady Bears added nine points each and Moosie Walls came away with a team-best 10 rebounds.
