TAHLEQUAH – NSU's balanced effort paved the way to a 72-58 win over Northwest Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Event Center.  Mary Jane Buschmann led the RiverHawks with 16 points, Kylie Looney put in 11, with Miranda Griffin and Rylie Torrey adding in ten.

Northeastern State controlled the ball well with a season low five turnovers against the Bearcats.  The RiverHawks effort was the team's best since Dec. 30, 2015 where they had five at Southwestern Oklahoma.

"Our team worked really hard on defense today and that's what we've been waiting for and I think there has been any question that it has been our greatest deficiency this season so it was good to see a good collective team effort," said head coach Randy Gipson.   "I was proud of our team, we haven't had a stretch like that this year without Rylie (Torrey) in there and I through our kids dug down and played a good half without her."

"As a coach you just like to try to take it a game at a time to get better and I felt like going back three or four games ago I think we have gotten better in some phases of the game.  It didn't show up in the win column but I see some things coming together with our defense, our rebounding, and hopefully we can just keep building on that.

The Bearcats held a slight 33-31 rebounding edge with Buschmann picking up eight as a team high, Alexis Hill and Looney both had five.   Northeastern State shot 50-percent (24-48) from the field with NWMSU going 33.3-percent (18-54) on their side of the floor; the Bearcats also kept their turnovers in single digits with nine.

Northeastern State had a slight edge for the majority of the first half and back-to-back treys from Long and Griffin in the final two minutes pushed them up 28-22 with 1:14 left.  The Bearcats cut into the NSU lead with a layup before the halftime horn with the RiverHawks shooting 50-percent (12-24) from the field.  Buschmann, Long, and Looney all led the RiverHawks offense with seven points; Torrey sat the majority of the half after picking up two quick baseline fouls in the opening quarter.

The RiverHawks stretched their lead into double-figures with 50-percent shooting in the third period and outscoring NWMSU 24-to-18.   Northeastern State closed the period with six unanswered to lead 52-42 over Northwest Missouri State.   The lead for the RiverHawks was more than enough to carry them to their first MIAA win of the season with Destiny Strange coming off the bench to score all seven of her points in the second half.

Northwest Missouri State was led by Jasmin Howe who had 19 points with two others in double figures.

Hill and Griffin both had four assists for NSU who now moves to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the MIAA.  Northwest Missouri State drops to 5-6 and 0-4 in league play.

Northeastern State will return the floor on Monday, Dec. 19 at Southern Arkansas for a 1 p.m. tip.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Northeastern State led 26-22 inside the paint and their bench outscored NWMSU 19-to-9.
- The RiverHawks are 2-3 on the floor of the NSU Event Center this season.
- The four three-pointers made tied a season low for the RiverHawks.
 
NORTHWEST MISSOURI (5-6, 0-4 MIAA)
Howe,Jasmin 5-10 6-6 19; Williams,Macy 3-8 4-4 10; Meyer,Tanya 3-12 3-3 10; McAndrews,Mallory 3-6 0-0 9; Sudduth,Caitlin 2-4 1-2 5; Wilhelmi,Carlie 2-3 0-0 4; Shull,Taryne 0-8 1-2 1; Dentlinger,Maria 0-1 0-0 0; Smith,Bailey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 15-17 58.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE (4-6, 1-3 MIAA)
Buschmann, Mary Jane 6-11 4-6 16; Looney, Kylie 4-11 2-2 11; Torrey, Rylie 3-8 4-4 10; Griffin, Miranda 3-5 2-3 10; Long, Cailyn 4-6 0-0 9; Hill, Alexis 2-2 3-4 7; Strange, Destiny 1-3 5-7 7; Bureau, Storm 1-2 0-0 2; Chamberlin, Hailey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 20-26 72.
 
Northwest Missouri............   12   12   18   16  -   58
Northeastern State............   11   17   24   20  -   72
 
3-point goals--Northwest Missouri 7-28 (McAndrews,Mallory 3-6; Howe,Jasmin 3-8; Meyer,Tanya 1-3; Shull,Taryne 0-5; Smith,Bailey 0-2; Williams,Macy 0-4), Northeastern State 4-16 (Griffin, Miranda 2-4; Looney, Kylie 1-5; Long, Cailyn 1-2; Torrey, Rylie 0-3; Buschmann, Mary Jane 0-2).
Fouled out--Northwest Missouri-Meyer,Tanya, Northeastern State-None.
Rebounds--Northwest Missouri 33 (Shull,Taryne 10), Northeastern State 31 (Buschmann, Mary Jane 8).
Assists--Northwest Missouri 8 (Williams,Macy 4), Northeastern State 14 (Hill, Alexis 4; Looney, Kylie 4). Total fouls--Northwest Missouri 25, Northeastern State 19.
Technical fouls--Northwest Missouri-None, Northeastern State-None.
A-534