The headline: Northeastern State faces their third nationally ranked program this season on Saturday where they will visit #9 Pittsburg State seeking an upset and to snap a five game skid.  In the last four games, NSU's offense has averaged 48 points per outing with Rylie Torrey carrying much of the RiverHawks scoring this season.  The NSU sophomore has scored 10+ points in all 18 contests this season and has averaged 17.6 per game.   In her last two games, Torrey has netted six rebounds a game and shot 45.4-percent from the field.  Following Saturday's game, NSU will return home and will host Southwest Baptist and Central Missouri at the Event Center.

At the line: Northeastern State leads the MIAA in free-throw percentage and entering this Saturday's contest are 78.1-percent at the line with Rylie Torrey second overall at 88.6-percent.  NSU's best season at the line was in 1990-91 season were they went 75.7-percent during the NAIA era.

Last time out for NSU: Northeastern State could not keep up with a hot shooting Missouri Southern squad who knocked down 14 treys on Wednesday night in Joplin as the RiverHawks fell 74-53.

Rylie Torrey led NSU with 16 points with 11 coming in the first half but it was the fourth quarter that spoiled Wednesday night's road trip with Missouri Southern outscoring Northeastern State 23-to-8.  Cailyn Long was NSU's second leading scorer with 14 points but left in the third quarter with an injury.

Missouri Southern out-rebounded Northeastern State 34-to-22 with Torrey leading the RiverHawks with six.  The Lions with 14 three-pointers matched a program high as they shot 49.1-percent (26-53) against the RiverHawks; on the other side of the floor, NSU was 43.5-percent (20-46).

---

Northeastern State (6-12, 2-8 MIAA) at #9 Pittsburg State (17-3, 9-2 MIAA)
Jan. 28, 2017 | 1:30 p.m. | Pittsburg, Kan.
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio | Game Notes

The series with Pitt State: This will be the 28th meeting between the RiverHawks and Pitt State with Northeastern State trailing the overall series 16-11.  Northeastern State has dropped their last six meetings against the Gorillas and the RiverHawks are 11-4 in Pittsburg.    The RiverHawks haven't won at Pittsburg since Nov. 15, 1997 and under head coach Randy Gipson, Northeastern State has lost in all six contests. 

Last time out for Pitt State: A hot shooting Broncho team came to John Lance Arena and handed Pitt State only its third loss of the season. The Gorillas are now 17-3 overall and 9-2 in MIAA games, while Central Oklahoma improves to 18-1 overall and 9-1 in league play. Each Pitt State's three losses have been to top 10 teams. 

Pitt State shot 35 percent for the game (25-71) and 34 percent (12-35) from long range. Central Oklahoma shot 58 percent (29-50) overall, the highest percentage shot against the Gorillas this season. The Bronchos also shot 50 percent (6-12) from long range. Despite being outsized by the visiting team the Gorillas were only out-rebounded by three, 36-33, and cleaned up on the offensive glass with 19 rebounds that resulted in 15 second chance points. Pitt State also committed only five turnovers in the game. 

Athena Alvarado came off the bench to lead the team with 16 points. She also had two blocks and five rebounds. Shelby Lopez added 15 points. Herlocker and Madison Northcutt each scored 12 and Mikaela Burgess chipped in 11. Lopez and Herlocker each made four threes, while Herlocker led the team with seven rebounds. Paige Imhoff led with five assists. 

Scouting Pitt State:  The Gorillas live at the three-point arc and lead the MIAA with 537 attempts while making 198.  Pitt State makes nearly ten treys a game which is seventh highest in the nation with Mikaela Burgess sinking nearly three each outing.  Burgess leads PSU with 17.6 points per game which is third highest in the MIAA.  Hadyn Herlocker dishes out nearly six assists per game which is a league high and 11th nationally, she also leads Pitt State with 2.2 steals per game.  On defense, the Gorillas are on top of the MIAA in preventing three pointers with teams only able to hit 23.8-percent of their shots, which is seventh highest in the nation.