TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State closed out their three game home stand with a 74-50 loss to Missouri Western in their MIAA conference opener on Wednesday night at the NSU Event Center. 
 
Cailyn Long and Rylie Torrey paced the RiverHawks with 15 points each but cold shooting in the second and third quarters proved to be the difference at home.  The RiverHawks went 4-for-20 from the field in the middle two periods while making only one trey during that span.  
 
"We had trouble getting settled in our offensive execution," said head coach Randy Gipson.  "We weren't able to move the ball as easily as we would have liked to.  But we adjusted, in the second half we got the ball where we wanted, we just missed some shots."
 
"We were more alert on defense and able to stay out in front of the ball better for the most part.  We got young players and they get disoriented at times and I think we did a better job of improving from the last game on some of those things."
 
Northeastern State had the edge in offensive glass with nine to MWSU's six; the Griffons led in overall rebounding 34-to-29.  Missouri Western was averaging over 13 steals a game prior to their contest on Wednesday was limited to just five against the RiverHawks. 
 
The RiverHawks shot 32.7-percent (16-49) against Mo. Western who went 51.9-percent (28-54) on their side of the floor. 
 
NSU took an early 4-2 lead on the Griffons but they would trail heading into the first timeout on 11 straight points by MWSU.  The RiverHawks came out of the timeout on a 10-2 run on MWSU to make it a 15-14 game with 1:18 left in the first quarter.  Mary Jane Buschmann closed out the period with a layup on a NSU missed and-one opportunity to tie the game at 17.
 
Long hit a three for the first bucket in the second quarter to give NSU a 20-17 lead but the Griffons went on a 17-2 run to overtake the RiverHawks for the remainder of the contest.
 
Alexis Hill led the RiverHawks with five rebounds and three assists.  Miranda Griffin had eight points and a pair of assists for NSU.
 
Sefulu Faavae led MWSU with 14 points on the floor. 
 
The loss will send NSU to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the MIAA; Missouri Western will go to 7-1 and 1-0 in league play.
 
Northeastern State will travel down I-44 on Saturday to face rivals Central Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 
- Cailyn Long and Rylie Torrey have hit double figures in each of NSU's six games this season
- First time since Feb. 17, 2016 at Washburn that the RiverHawks were held under five three-pointers
- Missouri Western State led in points in the paint 30-to-22
 
MO. WESTERN (7-1 (1-0 MIAA))
Lentz,Savannah 4-7 4-5 14; Tate,Dwanisha 5-9 0-0 12; Torres,Julia 4-7 3-4 11; Dewey,Chelsea 4-9 0-0 9; Anderson,Erin 3-5 0-0 7; Faavae,Sefulu 3-5 0-0 6; Peterson,Trudy 2-5 0-0 6; Goe,Lakota 1-2 2-2 5; Richardson,Melia 2-4 0-0 4; Korovou,Leba 0-1 0-0 0; Lewis,Dana 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 9-11 74.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE (2-4 (0-1 MIAA))
Long, Cailyn 5-10 4-5 15; Torrey, Rylie 4-9 6-6 15; Griffin, Miranda 2-7 2-2 8; Buschmann, Mary Jane 2-7 1-2 5; Strange, Destiny 1-5 0-1 2; Bureau, Storm 1-2 0-0 2; Looney, Kylie 1-3 0-0 2; Hill, Alexis 0-6 1-2 1; Chamberlin, Hailey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-49 14-18 50.
 
Mo. Western...................   17   19   19   19  -   74
Northeastern State............   17    7    9   17  -   50
 
3-point goals--Mo. Western 9-17 (Tate,Dwanisha 2-4; Lentz,Savannah 2-3; Peterson,Trudy 2-3; Goe,Lakota 1-2; Dewey,Chelsea 1-1; Anderson,Erin 1-3; Richardson,Melia 0-1), Northeastern State 4-19 (Griffin, Miranda 2-4; Torrey, Rylie 1-2; Long, Cailyn 1-4; Looney, Kylie 0-2; Hill, Alexis 0-4; Strange, Destiny 0-1; Buschmann, Mary Jane 0-2).
Fouled out--Mo. Western-Faavae,Sefulu, Northeastern State-None.
Rebounds--Mo. Western 34 (Torres,Julia 8), Northeastern State 29 (Hill, Alexis 5).
Assists--Mo. Western 15 (Dewey,Chelsea 6), Northeastern State 12 (Hill, Alexis 3).
Total fouls--Mo. Western 15, Northeastern State 13.
Technical fouls--Mo. Western-None, Northeastern State-None. A-732