ALVA, Okla. — It was a tale of two halves inside the Percefull Fieldhouse on Thursday night as Southern Nazarene dropped its first Great American Conference contest of the season 63-54 to Northwestern Oklahoma State.
The Crimson Storm (0-5, 0-1 GAC) came out firing in the first half as they shot 50 percent from the floor. The second half was a different story however, as SNU made just 7-of-28 (25%) field goal attempts and coughed up 15 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. The Storm went 4-for-25 (16%) from behind the three-point line and made 4-of-6 free throws.
The Rangers (3-4, 1-0 GAC) shot just 31 percent from the floor in the first half, but responded with a 48 percent clip in the second half. They outscored the Storm 37-17 in the final two quarters as they forced a season-high 24 turnovers out of SNU in the contest. NWOSU shot 26 percent from downtown, while making 16-of-27 free-throw attempts in the contest.
"I thought we came out with great energy in the first half," said SNU head coach
Trent May. "We just struggled with just passing and catching the ball in the second half while making good decisions as well. The second half we played tonight is not indicative of what we're going to continue to do. We're excited to get back to play our first game inside the Sawyer Center on Saturday afternoon."
Abby Niehues led the way for Southern Nazarene as the sophomore registered her first double-double of the season, scoring a career-high 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. She also swatted a season-high six shots and tallied two steals as well.
Niehues was the only SNU player in double figures as sophomore
Kennedy Gillette finished with nine points and two rebounds, while senior
Adrienne Berry finished with eight points and five rebounds while knocking down a pair of three-pointers.
The Crimson Storm jumped out to an early 12-4 run to start the game and closed the first quarter with a 20-9 lead courtesy of 10 points from Niehues. Both teams scored 17 in the second period, as SNU took their first lead of the season into halftime at 37-26.
NWOSU flipped the script in the second half as they scored 22 in the third quarter, while limiting SNU to just six points in the period to take a 48-43 lead into the fourth. After the Rangers opened the final frame on a 10-4 run, it was tough to Southern Nazarene to get back in it as NWOSU cruised the rest of the way on their home floor.
SNU will play their first contest of the season inside the Sawyer Center on Saturday afternoon, as they host East Central with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.
