SHAWNEE, Okla. – Northeastern State closed out 2016 with a coast-to-coast 71-59 win on Saturday afternoon at Oklahoma Baptist.  The RiverHawks led as many as 19 points but held off a late rally by the Lady Bison who cut into the NSU lead to five points at the end of the third quarter.   

Rylie Torrey scored 12 points in the final ten minutes with six coming from the free-throw line to halt the OBU challenge.

All eight players who entered the contest for the RiverHawks had a hand in NSU's scoring effort with Torrey having 18 as a team high.   Mary Jane Buschmann had 13 and a career high four steals, with Kylie Looney chipping in 11 in the win.

Northeastern State was out-rebounded on the floor 39-to-36 by the Lady Bison with Destiny Strange having a career high afternoon with 12; her effort matched a season high for NSU that was last set by Buschmann on Nov. 13, 2016 vs. Northwestern Oklahoma.  Alexis Hill was two boards short of a career mark with eight off the glass.

Nearly half of NSU's offense came in the opening ten minutes were they went 10-for-16 or 62.5-perecent on the floor.  The RiverHawks went 11-for-42 the rest of the way but effective free-throw shooting assisted in NSU's win with 19-for-21 shooting.

The Lady Bison shot 19-for-57 (33.3-percent) on the floor with most of their offense coming from Tasha Edge who had a game high 24 points.   

NSU opened the contest scoring 11 straight on the Lady Bison and six three-pointers in the first quarter blew the gates open for NSU with a 29-12 lead.  In the second period, each team only put together ten points each with NSU maintaining their 17-point advantage into the locker room.  All eight players who hit the floor in the first half all had a field-goal with Miranda Griffin pacing the RiverHawks with eight points.  

Oklahoma Baptist closed on the RiverHawks late in the third quarter where they dropped nine in a row to enter the final ten minutes trailing 51-46.   In the fourth quarter, Torrey assisted in a 7-2 run with five points out of the gates to pull NSU ahead 59-48 which would be enough to halt the OBU run for the win.

The RiverHawks closed 2016 with wins in three out of their last four and are now 5-7 overall; Oklahoma Baptist with the loss falls to 3-7.

Northeastern State will return to MIAA play for the remainder of the season and will travel on Jan. 5 to Lindenwood.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Rylie Torrey has hit double-figure scoring in all 12 games.
- NSU was limited to eight turnovers which was the second fewest of the season.
- The RiverHawks bench out-scored Oklahoma Baptist 16-to-6.
- Cailyn Long was perfect at the free-throw line and is now 40-for-43 (93-percent).
- First win over Oklahoma Baptist in NSU's NCAA Division II era and under Head Coach Randy Gipson; RiverHawks haven't beaten OBU since the 1992-93 season.
 
NORTHEASTERN STATE 71, OKLAHOMA BAPTIST 59
NORTHEASTERN STATE (5-7)
Torrey, Rylie 5-17 6-6 18; Buschmann, Mary Jane 4-9 5-6 13; Looney, Kylie 3-10 2-2 11; Griffin, Miranda 2-2 2-2 8; Long, Cailyn 2-7 3-3 7; Hill, Alexis 2-7 0-0 6; Strange, Destiny 2-5 1-2 6; Chamberlin, Hailey 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-58 19-21 71.
 
OKLAHOMA BAPTIST (3-7)
Edge,Tasha 8-16 4-5 24; Graves,Cameerah 2-6 7-8 13; Williams,Lexi 4-14 0-0 9; Custer,Katy 3-9 1-1 7; Avina,Autumn 2-8 2-2 6; Davenport,Morgan 0-3 0-0 0; Smith,Monae 0-0 0-0 0; Small,Carrington 0-1 0-0 0; Richards,Alexa 0-0 0-0 0; Mbroh,Alexis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 14-16 59.
 
Northeastern State............   29   10   12   20  -   71
Oklahoma Baptist..............   12   10   24   13  -   59
 
3-point goals--Northeastern State 10-24 (Looney, Kylie 3-7; Hill, Alexis 2-3; Griffin, Miranda 2-2; Torrey, Rylie 2-7; Strange, Destiny 1-1; Long, Cailyn 0-2; Buschmann, Mary Jane 0-2), Oklahoma Baptist 7-22 (Edge,Tasha 4-9; Graves,Cameerah 2-3; Williams,Lexi 1-7; Avina,Autumn 0-2; Custer,Katy 0-1).
Fouled out--Northeastern State-None, Oklahoma Baptist-Graves,Cameerah.
Rebounds--Northeastern State 36 (Strange, Destiny 12), Oklahoma Baptist 39 (Edge,Tasha 7).
Assists--Northeastern State 10 (Torrey, Rylie 3; Strange, Destiny 3), Oklahoma Baptist 8 (Graves,Cameerah 4).
Total fouls--Northeastern State 14, Oklahoma Baptist 18.
Technical fouls--Northeastern State-None, Oklahoma Baptist-None.
A-567