BETHANY, Okla - Southern Nazarene (5-2, 2-1 GAC) suffered a close loss on Saturday as they fell 72-70 to Southwestern Oklahoma State University (7-2, 2-1 GAC) in Weatherford. 

In a game that went down to the wire, SNU held their own for the second time this season against a nationally ranked opponent.

The Storm were a bit loose with the ball as they coughed up 25 turnovers to the 15 of the Bulldogs. However, SNU made up for this by controlling the rebound and points-in-paint margin. Southern Nazarene out-leveraged Southwestern Oklahoma State 40-26 in the paint and out-rebounded them by 11 (47-36) on Saturday afternoon.

SNU held the field-goal percentage advantage as they shot 29-of-65 (44%) from the floor. The Storm held No. 25 SWOSU to 38.7% on 24-62 shooting from the floor on the day. 

For the sixth time this season, the Crimson Storm outscored their opponent in the first quarter. SNU edged SWOSU 18-12 after the first quarter of play, holding the Bulldogs to 18.8% from the floor.

Sophomore Jaycee Soap led SNU with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Soap also swiped away three steals from the Bulldogs and knocked down three triples. Alexus Jones collected her second double-double on the season as she finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. 

Sophomore Sonia Sarda struggled shooting in the game as she registered 11 points, but made up for it on the defensive-end and on the boards as she poked away five steals and brought down seven rebounds. Julia Schwake was efficient in her minutes as she collected eight points and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the arc. Forwards Abby Niehues and Myriam Garcia both ran into foul trouble but managed five and six points respectively before fouling out. 

The Crimson Storm held a 57-52 lead going into the fourth but struggled as they were only able to cash in on six of twenty shots attempted. SNU wasn't able to slow down a run made by SWOSU in the last minute of the game to close on their third GAC matchup of the year. The Storm's largest lead on the afternoon was 15 points. 

Southern Nazarene will return to Sawyer Center to face off against Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-1, 3-0 GAC) on December 14. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m.