ADA, Okla. – The Southern Nazarene Women's basketball team were hunting for their first win of the season on Thursday night as they traveled down to Ada to battle against East Central. The Crimson Storm (0-3, 0-3 GAC) caught themselves in an uphill battle as they fell 73-60 to the Tigers (4-1, 4-1 GAC).
 
The first quarter of play produced a physical battle between the teams as the Storm came out with a one-point advantage. The scoreboard hardly told the tale of the quarter as the Tigers committed six personal fouls, giving SNU chances at the free-throw line. Southern Nazarene would cash in on these chances as they went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line. At the end of the first quarter, Southern Nazarene led East Central 17-16 despite shooting a mere 28.6% from the floor.
 
SNU's shooting woes continued to plague them in the second quarter, as they shot 38.5%, a bit lower than the 53.8 shooting percentage the Tigers were able to post. Still, the Crimson Storm trailed 33-31 heading into the halftime break. The Storm showed a glimmer of hope in the third quarter as they retook the lead at 41-40 with 4:14 left in the quarter. However, the Tigers regained the lead and wouldn't look back as they closed the door on any comeback for SNU.  
 
Senior Kennedy Gillette led Southern Nazarene in scoring with a season-high 20 points while recording seven rebounds and knocking down 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Cassandra Awatt produced nine points for the Storm, but did most of her work around the basket as she brought down a game-high nine rebounds. Awatt also collected two steals and four assists.
 
Senior Alexus Jones made her first appearance of the season and contributed eight points, six rebounds, and two steals. Other notables were Emily Monaghan and Abby Niehues who finished with nine and seven points, respectively.
 
Southern Nazarene returns to Bethany to play host to the Northwestern Oklahoma State (4-3, 4-3 GAC) this Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm.