Women Jolted by NSU

February 16, 2008

WEATHERFORD, Okla.– Southwestern Oklahoma State University and its post-season aspirations took a significant jolt Saturday as front-running Northeastern State University walked away with a 68-51 victory in Weatherford.

The SWOSU women (14-10) had climbed to within one victory of joining the RiverHawks for the lead in the Lone Star Conference North Division now find themselves in fourth place with a 5-3 record. SWOSU is one-half game ahead of fifth-place Southeastern  Oklahoma State. The top four teams in each of the LSC’s two divisions qualify for the conference tournament set to begin next month in Bartlesville.

Kim Hunter had 17 points and Jessica White added 16 for the RiverHawks who improved to 14-10 overall and 7-2 in the North.

SWOSU got 26 points from freshman Lucy Ramon but little else as no other player scored more than eight points. Ramon’s point total was more than half of the team’s offensive output of 51.

Ramon’s basket at the 10:09mark gave SWOSU its last lead at 40-39. The RiverHawks then pulled ahead and were up 48-42 with 6:52to play.

SWOSU had some fight left and were lifted when Grace Anne Fath drilled a three-pointer that cut NSU’s lead to 56-51 with 2:21to play. The Bulldogs then ground to a halt as NSU then scored the game’s final 12 points and pulled away in what had been a close ball game until that point.

The Bulldogs did not shoot particularly well making just 40% of their shots (19-of-48) but were considerably worse from three-point distance making just 14% on two-of-14 attempts. NSU though flourished from long range making 10-of-23 three-point attempts for 44%. The RiverHawks made seven-of-nine from the arch in the second half.

SWOSU will next play Wednesday, Feb. 20 at Texas A&M University Commerce in an important game with tournament implications on the line.