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TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State women's basketball team defeated No. 18 Pittsburg State 65-50 Wednesday night inside Jack Dobbins Field House.
 
The RiverHawks (12-5, 7-2 MIAA) added to their growing list of defeated ranked teams, which now includes No. 9 Washburn, No. 10 Fort Hays State, No. 21 Emporia State, and the No. 18-ranked Gorillas.
 
NSU held Pittsburg State (12-5, 6-3 MIAA) to season lows in points scored (50) and shooting percentage (.302, 16-for-53). The green and white accomplished the same feat in victories over the Lady Blues, Tigers and Lady Hornets.
 
Northeastern State shot 44 percent (26-for-59) from both the field and from behind the three-point line (7-for-16). The team made all six free throws attempted. NSU also recorded 15 assists and a season-low five turnovers, while tying the taller Gorillas in rebounds, 36-36.
 
Senior guards Tosha Tyler and Taylor Lewis combined for 36 points on 14-of-25 shooting. Tyler scored 19 and Lewis poured in 17, while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Senior forward Sarah Green recorded six points and a season-high 11 rebounds.
 
Lizzy Jeronimus, the MIAA's leading scorer, dropped 18 points, but no other member of her squad reached double figures. The visitors shot just 26 percent (8-for-31) from downtown and 67 percent (10-for-15) from the charity stripe.
 
The two sides exchanged blows in the first eight minutes, but neither team could pull away. With the score tied 12-12, Jeronimus led her team on a 6-0 run to give the Gorillas an 18-12 advantage at the 8:25 mark.
 
Northeastern State scored the next seven points to regain the lead, and the RiverHawks ended the half on a 16-6 run to take a 28-24 advantage into intermission.
 
There were six lead changes in the first 20 minutes of action, but NSU opened the second half on an 11-2 run and never allowed the Gorillas to get their deficit below 10 points the rest of the way.
 
The largest lead of the game for Northeastern State was 65-47 at the 1:14 mark, and a late three from Drew Roberts pushed the final score to 65-50 in favor of NSU.
 
Northeastern State has now won eight of its last nine contests. The RiverHawks will head on the road for a three-game set, starting at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at Missouri Southern State.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH RANDY GIPSON
On his overall thoughts of the game…
“We're real pleased with the effort we got. As a team, that's how we do it. (Pittsburg State) really presents formidable challenges with Jeronimus, and they have a great offensive scheme and great shooters. In the latter part of the first half, we tightened up. We were able to adjust to their screening and driving. We were able to keep the ball in front of us a little better. We played pretty well on defense from that point on. Our kids worked hard on offense to cut and screen and get each other open. We had a variety of people that stepped up and made big shots.”
 
On having multiple scoring threats…
“You can spell Taylor Lewis with Chelsey (Stricklen), and she can come in and make plays like she did. Obviously that's a big boost for our team.”
 
On tying Pittsburg State in rebounds…
“If we tie on the boards against this team, then we win. That's a good sign for us. (Pittsburg State) got too many offensive rebounds. They're a tough, physical team. They have some length inside. I thought our kids were fighting hard for the most part. We were able to make enough plays on defense to keep them at bay.”
 
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