BETHANY, Okla. - The No. 14 Crimson Storm returned home to battle the No. 25 ranked Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers inside the Sawyer Center. Southern Nazarene handled business handing the Rangers their first loss of the season, 65-47.

The Storm (9-0, 3-0 GAC) tabbed in on the WBCA DII Poll at 14 after defeating Southeastern and East Central last week. The Rangers (8-1, 2-1 GAC) found themselves in the top 25 as well snagging the No. 25 spot in this week's poll. SNU claims 23 of the last 30 meetings with NWOSU after today's victory.

The Rangers came out shooting early to begin the game going ahead 6-2. The two squads swapped points from there until an Emily Monaghan three tied the score up at nine all. From there the Storm used free throws to keep up with an aggressive Northwestern. A made jumper from the Rangers gave them the lead to end the first quarter, 13-12.

The squads swapped points before Lauryn Reither silenced the Rangers with a made three-ball to snag back the lead. The Storm utilized the paint and free throws to slowly pull ahead even more. Reither went on to hit her second three to give SNU their biggest lead of the half, 24-15. The Storm continued to work in the paint and utilize Northwestern turnovers. Monaghan remained hot for the Crimson Storm hitting a long ball to extend the lead, 29-17, before NWOSU called a timeout. A Hannah Giddey made free throw and five more points from Monaghan ended the half with a Crimson Storm lead of 35-19.

Southern Nazarene did not take their foot off the gas in the second half. A Reither jumper and Monaghan three continued to keep the fire going for the SNU offense. Monaghan continued to lead the Storm offensively, draining another three to stretch the lead 45-23. The Rangers went on a 4-0 run before Shannon Burton stopped their momentum with an easy layup. Giddey followed suit, stretching the lead, 49-32, to end the third quarter.

An Abbie Jiles jumper and a Carley Gasaway three opened up the final quarter for SNU. The Storm continued to score most of their points in the paint holding on to their lead. Giddey and Reither found themselves at the charity stripe knocking down two shots a piece to give Southern Nazarene a 65-45 lead. The Rangers would only score once more before the time ran out in the clock leaving SNU to grab the victory, 65-47.

Monaghan led the way for the Crimson Storm scoring a career high of 24 points. Giddey collected her third double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 rebounds to go along with her seven blocks. Reither also scored in double digits collecting 16 of her own to go with her nine rebounds. 

Next Up

The Crimson Storm will hit the road to continue GAC play at Southwestern Oklahoma State. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. Saturday, December 16, in Weatherford.