SE Athletics
Matt Thomas
DURANT – Kenzli Warden hit six threes and Southeastern used a 15-6 overtime session to pick up a 77-68 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday evening in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in Great American Conference play heading into the final game of the fall semester versus Southern Nazarene on Thursday, Dec. 19 in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
Warden finished the contest hitting 6-of-9 from beyond the arc on her way to a game-high 24 points, posting an 8-of-15 shooting effort overall while matching the team-high in rebounds with eight, while adding two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Caitlin Kobiske finished with 18 while shooting 7-of-10 form the floor and pulled down the same team-high eight rebounds.
Stevie Stinchcomb would drain three threes of her own on her way to 15 points on 50 percent shooting overall.
Abbie Barr would chip in six points, while handing out a game-high seven assists as the Storm finished with 19 for the game.
After a slow start, with SE going scoreless for the first two minutes, the teams would eventually crawl to a 5-4 Ranger advantage by the 4:43 mark of the opening frame.
The teams would trade buckets with just over four minutes to go in the quarter and close the period on matching 12 point runs to head to the first quarter break with NWOSU ahead 17-16.
SE would take the lead early in the second quarter on a Kobiske bucket, but NWOSU would answer and lead by five with 6:48 to play before both teams went on a nearly two minute dry spell.
The Ranger lead would peak at six points before 11 points over the final 4:57 of the quarter from Warden would trigger a 17-11 Storm run to knot the game at 35-35 at the halftime break.
The Storm would take the lead early in the second half and push its advantage out to 49-39 as a Connie Hughes jumper capped a 14-4 run that spanned nearly seven minutes of the third quarter.
NWOSU would close the quarter on a 7-2 run to cut the Storm lead to 51-46 heading to the fourth.
The run would continue and the Rangers would take a lead at the 6:43 mark and stretch it to four points with 5:24 to play in regulation.
Warden would follow with back-to-back threes to regain the lead for SE and a Stinchcomb three would give the Storm a three-point edge before NWOSU hit a three with 1:44 to play, knotting the game at 62-62 and neither team would score again, forcing OT.
The Rangers would score first in the overtime session, but the Storm would reel off seven-straight points to take a 69-64 lead on a Kobiske bucket with 2:04 to play in the bonus frame.
NWOSU would answer with a bucket to close the SE lead to 69-66, but a Kobiske layup on the other end would make that as close as the game would get as Southeastern would outscore the Rangers 8-2 over the final 1:26 to pull away for the 77-68 win.