Northeastern State vs. Southeastern Oklahoma | Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. 
Northeastern State vs. Northwestern Oklahoma | Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. 
Live Stats | Game Notes 

The headline: After opening their season on Sunday with an exhibition contest at Missouri State, the RiverHawks will be playing in year-three of the MIAA/GAC Challenge which has pitted NSU against Northwestern Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma.  In the first two years of the crossover, NSU has won both contests against Northwestern Oklahoma, while splitting with Southeastern.
 
Last time out for NSU: Northeastern State opened their 2016-17 season on Sunday afternoon with an exhibition game at Missouri State.  The RiverHawks got behind early and couldn't keep pace with Missouri State falling 87-46 in Springfield... Cailyn Long led the RiverHawks with 14 points, with nine of those points coming in the second half...Mary Jane Buschmann returned to the floor for the first time since Jan. 30, 2016 against Lincoln; the NSU senior had a team high five rebounds and three assists.

Last time out for Southeastern: Southeastern Oklahoma traveled to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State in an exhibition to open the year.  The Savage Storm was held to 17.6-percent shooting from the field in the 97-46 loss.  Olivia Potter reached double-digits for the Storm with 10 points, hitting a pair of threes on her way to that number. 

Scouting Southeastern: The Savage Storm was picked to finish in fifth based on the GAC preseason poll that was release prior to the season.  Last season, SE finished the year with a 13-16 record and was eliminated in the first round of the GAC Tournament.   The Storm return its top two scorers from a season ago in Olivia Potter and Rachel Wallace.  Potter averaged 13.0 ppg and is one of the GAC's most prolific three-point shooters, sharing the record for threes made in a game with Rachel Wallace who averaged 11.8 ppg and set the GAC's single-game scoring record with a 48 point performance against SWOSU.

Last time out for Northwestern: Northeastern State has not played on the court officially this season yet.

Scouting Northwestern: The Rangers were picked to finish in last place in the GAC based on its preseason poll and they are under the leadership of first year head coach Tasha Diesselhorst who arrived from Pond Creek-Hunter HS. Northwestern Oklahoma went winless in 22 conference games and went 2-26 overall.  At the forefront of the new look Ranger's attack will be senior point guard Ashley Pride, who averaged 8.1 points per game last year.  Additionally, NWOSU returns three-point specialist Relina Johnson, who shot 36.1% from behind the arc last season.

Closing on 600: Head Coach Randy Gipson needs only one win to hit 600 in his overall coaching career.  In his 28th year as a head coach, Gipson owns a 599-261 career record, and he is 309-184 through 18 years at Northeastern State.  

NJCAA All-American: Gipson added 2016 NJCAA All-American Rylie Torrey who comes to NSU as a sophomore from NOC-Enid.  Torrey led the nation in free-throw percentage (94.7 percent), was second in the country in 3-point field goals made (114) and was 15th in scoring (17.0 ppg). She tallied shooting percentages of 40.1 (187-for-466) overall and 38.4 (114-for-297) from behind the 3-point arc, and she was 90-for-95 at the free-throw line.

Pick 11: Northeastern State was selected eleventh in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll that was announced on Thursday by league officials.  The RiverHawks picked up 43 points in the poll that was conducted among the league's 14 head coaches.

Returning 7: NSU returns seven from the 2015-16 season with only one graduating senior.  However, due to several injuries Alexis Hill is NSU's lone returner to play in all 29 contests.   

The senior: Mary Jane Buschmann is the RiverHawks lone senior on the squad and is the team's leading scorer with 13 points per game.  Buschmann missed the final nine games of the season due to injury and also averaged over five rebounds per game, with  43.5-percent shooting average.