Storm Women Hold Off Rangers

DURANT, Okla. – Kamryn Cantwell led a foursome of double-digit scorers as Southeastern survived a late rally to hold off Northwestern Oklahoma State for a 67-61 victory on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 16-6 overall on the season and 13-5 in Great American conference play, and coupled with a loss by Harding on Saturday moves SE back into a tie for first place while also clinching a berth in the conference tournament.
 
"They came out in a box and one," said head coach Darin Grover, "And they did the exact same thing at their place. It didn't work at their place and it didn't work against us here. And then their zone, we just outshot it. Briley Moon knocked down shots. I think the whole team shot it pretty well against it. They came out in the second half switching screens and we haven't worked on that in a while and I thought that defensive adjustment by them I thought was fantastic and I told her that. What was even worse was I thought we got a little soft on the defensive end and they started knocking down shots. This was very similar to the East Central game."
 
Cantwell turned in one of her best all-around efforts of the season with 22 points, a season-high nine rebounds, and six assists. She finished the contest shooting 8-of-13 from the floor with a 2-of-3 mark form long range.
 
Katie Webb and Briley Moon each finished with 13, with Moon connecting on a trio of threes and Webb shooting 5-of-7 from the field.
 
Tracy Johnson rounded out the group with 10 points on the strength of a pair of threes.
 
SE shot 53.3 percent for the game and hit 9-of-19 from beyond the arc, shooting over 60 percent in three quarters, with a 3-of-13 effort in the third working against the average.
 
Cantwell's nine rebounds led all players on the boards, while Moon and Webb each added five.
 
Her six assists was also a game-high, while Webb, Moon, and Logan Oestreich each dished out two.
 
The Storm jumped in front early and would eventually push its first quarter lead out to 16-8 after a Moon three, but the Rangers would respond and close the gap to 19-16 after one.
 
NWOSU would cut the gap to one point to open the second quarter, but a Johnson three triggered a 7-0 run to give the Storm a 26-18 lead.
 
The lead cracked double-digits on a Moon three with 4:22 to go in the half, and SE would finish the second quarter with the final 10 points to take a 42-23 lead at the halftime break.
 
The lead quickly reached 21 points early in the third, but the Rangers answered with an 11-0 run to close the gap to 46-36 with 2:04 to go in the third, but the Storm would score four of the final six points in the frame to take a 50-38 lead to the fourth quarter.
 
A NWOSU three would close the SE lead to single digits out of the gate and the Rangers would outscore the Storm 23-13 to close to within 63-61 with 35 seconds to play.
 
Johnson and Webb would each hit a pair of free throws over the final 17 seconds to preserve the 69-63 win.