SE Athletics
Matt Thomas, Sports Information Director
ALVA – Jordan Benson topped her career high with 17 points to lead five Southeastern players in double-figures, but it was not enough to outlast Northwestern Oklahoma State in a 73-65 overtime loss on Thursday night in Alva, Okla.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The Savage Storm drop to 8-6 on the year in Great American Conference Western Division play heading into a Saturday home contest against Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
“We went through a four or five possession stretch,” said head coach Darin Grover, “There where we turned it over, I don’t know, three out of those four or three out of those five times. Missed a shot in there. We had a four-point lead and we pushed it down on like four straight possessions where we just got in a hurry and it wasn’t good execution at all. We came out flat. I warned them about coming out flat, and we came out flat and didn’t execute the game plan early on and it went bad for the whole first half.”
Benson’s 17 points came on 5-of-9 shooting and a 3-of-5 three-point shooting effort.
Katie Branam was next in line with 13 points with a trio of threes, followed by Briley Moon’s 12 points, Kamryn Cantwell’s 11, and Haiden Williams’ 10.
Moon, Cantwell, and Branam each handed out three assists.
Moon also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Cantwell hauled in seven.
Southeastern hit 3-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, but the teams played to three early ties before the Storm scored five of the final seven points in the half to lead 16-13.
The Rangers opened the second quarter with an 11-3 run to go ahead 24-19 by the 5:48 mark of the quarter before Haiden Williams score three-straight points and a Benson bucket at the 2L57 mark tied the game at 24-24.
NWOSU would answer with a three before Cantwell drained a jumper with 56 seconds to go in the half, but a Ranger bucket with 35 ticks left would give them a 29-26 lead at the halftime break.
The Rangers jumped out to an 11-3 run to open the third quarter, going up 40-29 by the 5:02 mark of the quarter.
NWOSU maintained an 11-point edge with 4:19 to play in the third before a Benson three with 3:27 to go in the quarter kicked off a 15-3 run capped by a Branam three just before the buzzer to take a 46-45 lead after three quarters.
SE held onto the lead early in the fourth quarter and stretched the advantage to 53-49 after a Moon three-point play with 7:46 to play in the fourth.
Southeastern was able to keep its lead at four points as late as the 3:05 mark on a Williams jumper before the Rangers closed out the quarter with the final four points over the final 2:40 to send the game to OT tied at 58-58.
NWOSU jumped out early in the overtime session but a Benson three would tie the game at 61-61 with 3:18 to play.
However, The Rangers would score the next seven points and 12 of the final 16 points in the session to hand the Storm a 73-65 loss.