EDMOND, Okla. – The Northeastern State women's basketball team earned a 67-61 come-from-behind overtime victory over Central Oklahoma Saturday afternoon in Hamilton Field House.
 
The RiverHawks (7-15, 4-12 MIAA) came from 21 points down to pick up their second league road win and vault into 11th place in the conference standings. The Bronchos (15-7, 9-7 MIAA) maintained their position in fifth.
 
Senior guard Kate Bellamy recorded her second career double-double after finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds. True freshman guard Cailyn Long led all scorers with 17 points, and sophomore guard Alexis Hill finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. True freshman guard Kylie Looney added 11 points. There were four bench points total in the entire game, and all four came from NSU true freshman Eriyonna Irvin. She also registered six rebounds and five assists.
 
Northeastern State shot 44.9 percent (22-for-49) overall for the game, 41.2 percent (14-for-34) from behind the 3-point line and 69.2 percent (9-for-13) at the free-throw line. The RiverHawks were 3-for-16 from distance in the first half but shot a blistering 10-for-15 from deep in the second half. UCO tallied a 35.9 percentage (23-for-64) for the game, while shooting 23.3 percent (7-for-30) from distance and 61.5 percent (8-for-13) at the charity stripe.
 
Julia Mason paced the Bronchos with 16 points, while Haley Weathers added 15, McKenzie Solberg contributed 13 and Jordan Ward scored 12.
 
The beginning of the game was completely lopsided, as Central Oklahoma powered ahead to an 18-5 lead after the first quarter of play. Both teams struggled from the field in the second quarter and could only muster nine points each, and the home team carried a 27-14 advantage into halftime.
 
UCO used a 15-4 run over the course of the first seven minutes of the third quarter to take a commanding 45-24 lead. The RiverHawks looked to be all done and dusted, but three 3-point baskets late in the frame allowed the green and white to crawl back to within 48-33 heading into the fourth.
 
Northeastern State proceeded to go 5-for-5 from behind the arc in the fourth quarter – and also added an and-1 opportunity – to outscore the Bronchos 22-7 and send the contest into overtime. The last triple came from sophomore Miranda Griffin, who tied the game at 55-55 with 15 seconds to play. Irvin blocked Solberg's last-ditch effort to win the game in regulation.
 
NSU fell behind 59-55 in the extra session, but the green and white outscored UCO 12-2 in the final 1:47 to secure the huge come-from-behind victory.
 
Griffin made two 3-point shots in the game, and the other four RiverHawk starters made three 3's each.
 
Northeastern State returns home for a rematch with No. 9 Missouri Western State at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 11 inside the NSU Event Center. The Griffons topped NSU 88-49 earlier this year in St. Joseph, Missouri.
 
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