Box Score (html)
WEATHERFOD, Okla. – The Lady Bulldogs outscored Northwestern by 13 points in the second half including a plus-nine margin in the fourth quarter to beat the rival Rangers 80-65 on Monday night. SWOSU had five players score in double figures in a team effort offensively to help lead the Dawgs to the victory.
SWOSU led by as many as 10 in the first half but saw their lead dwindle to just two by the end of the first half and went into the locker room leading 32-30.
Savannah Gray led the first half charge with her team-high nine points through the first two quarters, stretching the floor with three deep balls. The defense stepped up to hold NWOSU to just 26% shooting from the floor, and blocked five shots as a team in the half. Poor foul shooting kept SWOSU from establishing a bigger lead in the opening half, as the Dawgs shot just 3-of-12 from the charity stripe.
After a lackluster second quarter of shooting from the field, SWOSU came out of halftime rejuvenated and shot 44% (8-for-18) and 62% (8-for-13) the in the final two quarters respectively. From the end of the third quarter, from where
Taylor Hedrick knocked down both of her free throws in the final scoring of the quarter to the 8:17 mark of the fourth and final quarter, the Dawgs went on a 10-0 run to jump out to a 14-point lead behind more scoring from Hedrick and with the aid of a
Hailey Tucker 30-foot three ball.
The Rangers would immediately answer with a 6-0 run to get within eight at 62-54, but SWOSU would answer and push the margin back to double digits for nearly the remainder of the game. The Dawgs were led in the fourth quarter by Tucker's nine points, as the sophomore scored 11 of her 17 in the second half.
The Lady Bulldog defense was active all night, and ended the night holding Northwestern to just a 27.9% shooting percentage – the lowest percentage a team has shot against SWOSU this season. The Dawgs also forced NWOSU into committing 16 turnovers on the evening.
Whitney Dunn had a career night in scoring after collecting 18 points while coming down with 10 rebounds to earn herself the third double-double of her season. Tucker ended with 17, followed by Gray's 14,
Hayden Priddy's 12 and Hedrick's 10 coming off the bench. Tucker also grabbed 11 rebounds for the ninth double-double of her season. Tucker and
Tyra Aska both also came up with three steals in the contest.
SWOSU (15-8, 11-6 GAC) will now look to extract revenge on Oklahoma Baptist, who will come to Weatherford on Thursday for another 5:30 pm tip off. The Lady Bulldogs fell to OBU 81-79 in their last meeting after failing to get a game-tying or winning shot away with just seconds on the clock.
