BETHANY, Okla. — After shooting struggles led to their first conference fall against Southeastern last weekend in Durant, Southern Nazarene came into Saturday's matchup against Northwestern Oklahoma State with their eyes on the prize.
Known to take care of business when facing the Rangers (3-5, 0-3 GAC), the Storm (7-3, 2-1 GAC) held that standard handing Northwestern another conference loss heading into the final stretch of games before Christmas break. Limiting the Rangers to just 11 made field goals and punishing them with 35 points off of 26 forced turnovers, the Storm commanded the contest on both ends cruising past Northwestern by as many as 33 points to end the contest.
The Rangers picked up a few points after the opening tip, but Kennedy Gillette and Jaycee Soap each showed up with the hot hand. An integral part of the Storm's 19-2 run in the first, Gillette went 6-6 from the foul line to go along with a pair of lay-ins while Soap added a couple of quick hitters to help the Storm to a monstrous 21-9 lead after the first 10.
The second period was no different with the Storm still in complete control of the contest. Adding to the performance, Cassandra Awatt grabbed her first few points of the game to extend the gap to 32-17. After a few daggers from deep courtesy of Soap, SNU would end the half doubling the Rangers at 38-19.
After the break, Alexus Jones kick started the third with a jumper to bring the Storm's lead up to 21 early on. Scoring was on the lower end that quarter as three minutes has gone by without either team making a bucket. The Storm quickly ended the stall going on an 8-0 run to increase the gap by 27 to put them up 53-26 with one final ten minutes left in the game.
The Storm opened the final quarter with a Lauryn Riether layup and later an Awatt three to push their run up to 12-0. Northwestern got a few shots to go midway through, but the menacing defense initiated by the Storm was not giving the Rangers any breathing room in the final minutes of the quarter. Grabbing five steals and putting up 16 to Northwestern's 11 points in the final period, SNU finished their 2021 home series coasting past the Rangers while adding another W to the list of GAC contests.
Senior Kennedy Gillette stepped it up from last week's tough Southeastern loss as she led the offensive front with a game-high of 16 points. Gillette's defense also stole the show as the No. 4 nationally ranked thief collected four steals making it tough for the Rangers all afternoon.
Soap was right behind Gillette as she bounced back from the Durant defeat with 15 points of her own while grabbing three rebounds, four assists, a block, and steal.
Awatt was another offensive threat per usual securing 11 points, two rebounds, two assists, a block, and steal against Northwestern.
Paint protector Abby Niehues made the Rangers uneasy all afternoon as she helped limit the Rangers to just 12 points inside the paint. Niehues was a rebounding machine grabbing a season-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points, a block, and two steals.
Not off the bench this contest, Emily Monaghan earned her first start of the season tallying eight points, two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Jones worked on both ends of the floor grabbing three rebounds and assists a piece while Reither added four points of her own along with three rebounds and three assists.
Before the holiday break sets in, the Storm will head to Weatherford Tuesday evening to matchup with another GAC rival, Southwestern Oklahoma State. Not seeing much success against the Bulldogs through the nine years of matchups, Southern Nazarene definitely gave Southwestern a wake up call last March as their 14 point win over the Bulldogs in Weatherford earned them a spot in the GAC Championship game. Both squads have a number of returners this year as SNU will matchup with some familiar faces Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m.
