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MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Northeastern State women's basketball team dropped a second-straight overtime decision, this one a 57-51 contest against Northwest Missouri State Monday night inside Bearcat Arena.
 
The RiverHawks (6-8, 3-4 MIAA) lost back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season 0-4, while the Bearcats (5-9, 2-5 MIAA) picked up a much-needed conference victory.
 
NSU trailed for the majority of the second half, taking its first lead of the final 20 minutes at 6:47. However, in the final 6:04 of regulation and five minutes of overtime, the RiverHawks shot just 2-for-12 overall and 3-for-11 at the free-throw line, while committing four costly turnovers.
 
Freshman guard Jamie Jackson led all scorers with a career-high 16 points, and junior guard Fontana Tate, NSU's leading scorer this season, came back from injury to add 10 points. Both players came off the bench, and NSU's starters combined for just 21 points on 6-for-28 shooting overall and 0-for-11 from three-point territory.
 
Northeastern State posted a 32.7 (18-for-55) shooting percentage overall, while also hitting just 4 of 22 (18.2 percent) from downtown and 11 of 20 (55.0 percent) at the free-throw line. NWMSU shot 37.8 percent (17-for-45) from the field, 31.6 percent (6-for-19) from downtown and 63.0 percent (17-for-27) at the line.
 
Annie Mathews registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Ashleigh Nelson and Monique Stevens led the Bearcats with 14 points each.
 
This was the first time in the Randy Gipson era that Northeastern State played back-to-back overtime games, and the contest also tied Gipson's mark for most overtimes in a single season (3, 2005-06 and 2008-09). NSU is 0-3 in OT this season.
 
NSU will return to Tahlequah for a 5:30 p.m. contest Jan. 16 against Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Scoring Summary
Northeastern State    22      27        2           51
NW Missouri State    28      21        8           57
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH RANDY GIPSON
Opening Statement…
"It was another disappointing loss. We didn't play hard enough and we didn't defend well in the first half. We tightened up in the second half and had a chance to win. We just couldn't get it done. We lost in a similar way to Saturday where we just couldn't get it done after taking a lead late. We didn't complete any plays in overtime."
 
On the final 10 minutes of the game…
"I don't think it was fatigue. We played hard and played with a lot of energy. We were getting defensive stops, we just missed our shots."
 
On rebounding from two-straight overtime losses…
"There isn't any magic potion. It's going to take a great collective effort and we have to work hard. We've lost three overtime games now this season, and we've had the lead late in all three. Maybe it's just a little bit of uncertainty in the players. Whatever the case, we can't dwell on that. We just have to work hard in practice, find a way to get enough of a lead and find a way to close out games. We need to finish all 40 minutes."
 
On getting Fontana Tate back…
"She played well in the first half. She played hard and defended pretty well in the second half. It's good to have her back. She'll play better as she gets in the flow of things and can practice daily."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-