ADA – The East Central University women's basketball team dropped a 60-69 decision to Northwestern Oklahoma State in the final game of the first half of the Great American Conference season.

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The Tigers (4-11, 3-8 GAC) were led by junior Devon Branch, with 23 points and five rebounds.  Junior Alexa Adair added 14 points.

The Rangers (6-11, 5-6 GAC) jumped out to an early lead and built it to 11 points in the first six minutes of the game.  However, ECU didn't give up and used a 12-3 lead over the next two minutes to cut the deficit to two (15-17).  The teams then traded shots for the final minutes of the stanza, with NWOSU leading 18-20.

Both teams hit a triple in the first five minutes of the second quarter and then went cold.  The Rangers were the first to break the drought and pushed ahead 21-28.  The Tigers then pushed back and tied the game at 28 (7-0 run), with a minute left.  The teams traded shots in the final minute, with NWOSU earning the last one for a 30-33 advantage at the half.

ECU came out of the intermission on a strong start and took its first lead of the game (34-33) in the first three minutes.  The teams traded shots until the final two minutes when the Rangers went on a 12-2 run to take a 42-51 lead into the final quarter.

The Tigers again fought back and got within one (50-51) in the opening two minutes of the final 10 minutes of play.  NWOSU then took over for good and used an 11-3 run in the next seven minutes.  That would be all they needed to end up claiming the 60-69 victory.

The Rangers used strong shooting to earn the win, hitting 46.8 percent of their overall shots. ECU hit just 32.7 percent of their shots, but did go 12-of-12 from the charity stripe.

The Tigers will remain at home for the next two games, starting Jan. 26 against Arkansas-Monticello at 5:30 p.m. in the Kerr Activities Center.