NEO Sports
Monty Franks
ENID — First place in the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference is up for grabs at 5:30 p.m. Thursday as the No. 13 ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Lady Norse square off against the Northern Oklahoma College-Enid Lady Jets in the Mabee Center.
While closing out the road portion of the regular season in one of the most difficult venues to play in, the Lady Norse hold a one game lead over NOC-Enid. NEO is seeking their fourth straight OCAC title.
Coming off their second open date of the season on Monday, the Lady Norse are 12-1 in the conference and 22-2 on the season. Winners of six games in a row the Lady Norse defeated Western Oklahoma State 68-52 on Feb. 16 in Altus.
Veteran coach Scott Morris has guided the Lady Jets to an 11-1 record in the conference and a 21-4 overall mark. The Lady Jets defeated Connors State College 60-56 on Monday in Warner.
Along with being a perfect 11-0 on their home court, the Lady Jets are sporting an eight-game winning streak.
“Not only is this game for the league-lead, but we’re both competing for the No. 1 seed in the post-season Region II Tournament, March 9-11, in Shawnee,” Lady Norse head coach Jim Rowland. “This is the type of game where all the little things come into play.”
When the two teams met Jan. 23 in the NEO Field House, the Lady Norse outscored the Lady Jets 41-28 in the final two quarters en route to a 67-48 victory.
Kamry Orr led all scorers for NEO with 20 total points while Jennah Coffman came off the bench to contribute 16. Hatty Nawezhi (11 points and 12 rebounds) and Sara Boric (10 points and 10 rebounds) combined for double-double performances in the paint.
Sarah Garvie paced the Lady Jets with 13 points while Alex Greenhoward added 10.
Both these programs played in the 2015-16 National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament in Lubbock, Texas. NEO appeared as the third-consecutive Region II representative while the Lady Jets were a zone qualifier from District B.
After suffering an 80-58 loss to NEO in the Region II Tournament Championship game at Shawnee, the Lady Jets dropped a 58-55 decision to Eastern Arizona in the first round of the national tournament.
“We need to go into this game relaxed and play to have fun,” Rowland said. “We can’t allow this game to get us all tensed up and not crack.
“All week we’ve emphasized to our players that if we just go out and play, we can win the game,” Rowland said. “Our players fully understand what’s on the line and our sophomore group are well aware of the things we need to do to win these last three games before regionals.
“If we try to do too much and try to do it in the first five minutes of the game, then we’re going to put ourselves in a tough position,” Rowland said. “But, if we relax and let the game to come to us instead of trying to win it in the first five minutes, then we’ll be alright.”