BETHANY - Southern Nazarene (3-0, 1-0 GAC) picked up right where they left off last weekend as they rolled through Northwestern Oklahoma State University (2-3, 0-1 GAC) 67-53 in Sawyer Center.
                                                                                                       
Defense was the name of the game again as the Storm forced 18 turnovers out of the Rangers. SNU had stingy fingers throughout the night collecting nine steals. They also denied the Rangers at the basket with eight blocks in the contest. 
 
As good as SNU was on defense, they were even better from behind the three-point line. They went 8-for-13 (61.5%) shooting from the arc on the night. The Storm shot just below 50% at 47.2% knocking down 25-of-53 from the floor.

Kennedy Gillette lead SNU statistically with 14 points on 6-8 shooting. She was also able to bring down six rebounds in her 31 minutes on the floor. Sonia Sarda followed closed behind with 10 points and a career-high 10 assists. This is also Sarda's first career double-double. Jaycee Soap made some noise with 13 points, four rebounds, and shot 3-for-5 from the arc. 

Nefer Leon was hot off the bench scoring 10 points, hitting two threes, and snatching two steals in just 10 minutes of play. Abby Niehues scored a quiet five points, but made her presence known in the paint by blocking two shots and coming down with three rebounds. Point Guard Alexus Jones struggled on the night scoring five points, but made up for it by collecting six rebounds and dishing out four assists. 

Southern Nazarene got off to a hot start scoring 23 points in the first quarter as they held the Rangers to just nine. Gillette had a huge hand in building this lead by scoring six points and snagging two steals in just the first quarter. 

This heat would simmer down in the second quarter as SNU shot only 18.2% on 2-of-11 shooting and scored only seven points to the 12 of Northwestern. These blues would only last for a moment as the Storm got back on track by scoring 25 points in the third quarter on 9-of-13 shooting. SNU would close the door on the game and cruise to their first GAC win of the year.

Southern Nazarene will be on the road for their next game against the East Central Tigers (1-4, 0-1 GAC) on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.