Box Score (HTML)  I  Box Score (PDF)

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Northeastern State women's basketball team recorded a 59-45 victory over Northwest Missouri State Monday evening inside the NSU Event Center.
 
The RiverHawks improved to 7-5 on the season and are now 3-2 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The Bearcats dropped to 4-10 on the year and 0-5 in the MIAA.
 
NSU held NWMSU to just 14 points in the first half, which was the fewest the Bearcats have scored in the opening half of a game since the season opener of the 2013-14 campaign.
 
Junior guard Kate Bellamy led NSU with 10 points. Six other members of the team contributed at least six points.
 
The RiverHawks shot 40 percent (22-for-55) from the field, 25.9 percent (7-for-27) from behind the 3-point line and were a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line. Northwest Missouri State shot just 27.6 percent (16-for-58) overall, 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from deep and 52.6 percent (10-for-19) at the charity stripe.
 
The Bearcats were led by Shelby Mustain's 11 points and career-high 12 rebounds.
 
Senior guard Fontana Tate hit a 3-point basket five minutes into the game that gave Northeastern State the lead for good. The home team used a 16-4 run to end the half and take a 29-14 lead into the locker room.
 
The Bearcats were able to match their first-half total before the first media timeout of the second half to pull within six at 34-28. NSU would not let the visitors get any closer, however, as a 15-4 run across the next six minutes was all the RiverHawks would need to secure the 14-point triumph.
 
NWMSU outrebounded NSU 43-38 and led in second-chance points 12-8. NSU led in fewer turnovers (13-17), points off turnovers (24-8) and fast-break points (6-0).
 
Northeastern State will now travel to Bolivar, Missouri, to take on Southwest Baptist. The RiverHawks and Bearcats are set to tip at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 8.

NORTHEASTERN STATE COACH RANDY GIPSON
Initial Statement...
"It's good to start out the year with a win. I think for the most part we played solid. We just didn't shoot the ball very well. Maybe the layoff had something to do with that, but we were getting good shots. We were running our offense and getting good shots, we just weren't making very many of them. With that said, we guarded pretty well and particularly in the first half we rebounded well. We had a pretty good handle on the game most of the way."
 
On giving up offensive rebounds...
"That's an area that we have to stay focused on. I think we had a little bit of letup coming out of the locker room. Northwest Missouri State had a push in the beginning of the second half. They played hard and made some good plays. Giving up offensive rebounds is something that we have to really get focused on doing a better job of. It's an ongoing part of the process of rebounding the ball. We've shown we've done it during stretches, we've just got to be more consistent."
 
On ball movement against the zone...
"I thought we got the ball in the right spots and had some really good looks. Some of that time we weren't shooting very well, but we were moving the ball well and we had people open and taking the right shots. Your shot will be on or off, and you can't focus on that if the execution is good and I think for the most part tonight the execution was good."
 
-GoRiverHawksGo.com-