The University of Arkansas at Monticello Blossoms were able to improve on their overall and Great American Conference records with a pair of wins against Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Playing in Magnolia against Northwestern on Friday night after the winter storm forced the game to be moved to the campus of Southern Arkansas, the Blossoms started the contest with a three-pointer by Alindsey Long.
After Northwestern got on the board with a pair of free throws, the Blossoms would go on a 10-0 run highlighted by three pointers by Long and Azaria Hulbert to take a 13-2 lead with 5:29 remaining in the quarter.
The Blossoms would continue to lead for the remainder of the quarter, extending their lead to the largest of the quarter, 15 points, on a jumper by Koi Montgomery to take a 20-5 lead.
Long would connect on a pair of free throws to begin the second quarter to give the Blossoms a 17 point, 22-5, advantage.
Northwestern would begin to chip away at the Blossom lead, going on a 9-0 run to bring the lead to single-digits with the Blossoms holding on to an eight point, 22-14, lead.
The Blossoms end the quarter, extending their lead back to double-digits.
The Blossoms would take a 13-point, 29-16, lead into the locker room after a three-pointer by Bailey Harris.
Harris would begin the third quarter the same way she ended the second, with a three-pointer to extend the lead to 32-16.
The Blossoms would extend the lead to 24 points after back-to-back three-pointers from Harris gave the Blossoms a 46-22 lead with 4:20 remaining in the quarter.
Northwestern would end the quarter with a pair of free throws to cut the Blossoms lead to 20 points, 48-28, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Rangers run would continue into the fourth quarter, finishing off an 11-0 run to cut the Blossoms lead to 13-points, 48-35.
Joi Montgomery ended the Northwestern run on a jumper to put the lead back to 15 points followed by a pair of free throws by Cyarah Kensmil to extend the lead back to 17 points.
After a pair of free throws by Northwestern, the Blossoms would go on a 9-0 run for a 61-37 lead with 4:03 remaining in the contest.
Northwestern would score the final points of the contest to cut the lead to 17 points for the final score of 61-44 in favor of the Blossoms.
Bailey Harris led the Blossoms with 16 points followed by 15 points by Alindsey Long and 12 points by Cyarah Kensmil.
Joi Montgomery added eight points, Laia Balcells scored five, Azaria Hulbert with three points, and Aeryn Hawkins with two points.
Returning to steelman Fieldhouse on Saturday, February 4, to host the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Lady Bulldogs in a contest that was pushed back to a 3pm tip off, the Blossoms would fall behind 6-0 to begin the contest before getting on the board with 5:56 remaining in the first quarter on a jumper by Bailey Harris.
Southwestern would continue to lead for the remainder of the first quarter, closing the quarter with an eight-point, 19-11, lead.
The Blossoms would go on a 9-0 run to start the second quarter to take a one-point lead, 20-19, with 7:27 remaining in the half.
The Lady Bulldogs would tie the game at 20 before the Blossoms would retake the lead, holding the lead for the remainder of the half.
Alindsey Long would score the final points of the half on a three-pointer with 1:05 remaining to give the Blossoms a 10-point advantage, 34-24, at the half.
The Blossoms would extend the lead to 13-points on two different occasions in the third quarter before the Lady Bulldogs began to cut into the Blossoms lead.
Southwestern would cut the lead to six points with 36 seconds remaining in the quarter before a Cyarah Kensmil jumper gave the Blossoms a 45-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Blossoms would extend the lead to their largest margin of the contest, 14 points, on two different occasions in the fourth quarter.
The Blossoms would end the contest with an 11-point, 61-50, victory for their second consecutive win.
Alindsey Long led the Blossoms with 20 points followed by Bailey Harris with 19 and Joi Montigomery with 10.
Azaria Hulbert added six points, Cyarah Kensmil with four, and Aeryn Hawkins with two.
With the pair of wins, the Blossoms have now improved their overall record to 9-12 with a Great American Conference record of 6-9.
The standings in the Great American Conference has Southern Nazarene in the top spot with an overall record of 17-4 and a GAC record of 14-1.
Harding University is second in the conference with an overall record of 17-5 and a conference record of 13-2.
Arkansas Tech is third with a conference mark of 10-5 with Henderson State and Oklahoma Baptist with 9-6 records in conference.
The Blossoms, Ouachita Baptist, Southern Arkansas, and Southwestern Oklahoma State University each have a 6-9 record with Northwestern Oklahoma State University and East Central sitting at 4-11.
Southeastern Oklahoma State University is at the bottom of the conference with a 3-12 conference record.
The Blossoms will travel to Oklahoma for their next two contests, facing East Central in Ada, Oklahoma on Thursday, February 9, with a 5:30pm tip scheduled.
The next stop will be in Durant, Oklahoma to face Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, February 11, at 1pm.
On Monday, February 13, the Blossoms will travel to Magnolia to face Southern Arkansas University with a 5:30pm tip set.
The Blossoms will finish the regular season with three home games and their final contest on the road.
