Game 4: Northeastern State (2-1) vs. Southern Arkansas (0-4) at 2 p.m. | November 22, 2017
Tahlequah, Okla. | NSU Event Center
The Series
Northeastern State holds a 2-1 series edge over Southern Arkansas with last season's meeting in Magnolia, Ark. being the first in 16 years between the two teams. The RiverHawks' last overtime game was against SAU where they fell 73-65 on the road.
The Coaches
Fala Bullock is in her first season as head coach and was named to lead her alma mater on April 1, 2017 to replace Randy Gipson who retired after 18 years. With six years of head coaching experience, Bullock is 100-75 overall and within conference play she is 61-53. She has spent the last four seasons (2013-17) as head coach at NCAA Division II Armstrong State University, where she recorded a career mark of 60-52. In her first season at Armstrong State, she led the Pirates to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, and reached the Sweet 16.
Bullock played for Gipson for two seasons, and was a graduate assistant under Gipson from 2004 to 2006. As student-athlete, Bullock played in 57 games and NSU went 36-19, winning the 2003 Lone Star Conference Tournament, and made the program's first NCAA Tournament berth. As a member of Gipson's coaching staff, NSU reached the Sweet 16 in 2004, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2005 and 2006.
The Lady Muleriders are coached by
Julio Pacheco (25-33), who is in his third season at Southern Arkansas. Pacheco guided the Lady Muleriders to a NCAA DII program record 19 wins and their first postseason victory in nine years in his first year on the job and after a rebuilding year in 2016-17 where they were 6-20 overall
Coast-to-Coast
Seventeen unanswered points to start last Wednesday's contest at home against Rogers State gave the RiverHawks their first coast-to-coast win (79-66) over an opponent since Dec. 31, 2016 at Oklahoma Baptist. The RiverHawks spread the wealth with four players in double figures and were led by
Destiny Strange who had a career night with 19 points.
Miranda Griffin and
Cenia Hayes both had 14 points, with
Lauryn Blevins adding 13 off the bench.
Big Debuts
Lauryn Blevins sank eight straight shots in their 82-75 season opening win over Northwestern Oklahoma and was a rebound short of a double-double in her first contest with 28 points off the bench. The redshirt-freshman impressed on the defensive side of the ball with five steals and three blocks. NSU has not had a player with five steals since Kate Bellamy had that same number on Feb. 12, 2015 at Emporia State.
Cenia Hayes a true freshman, was the back-half of the NSU duo with 21 points against the Rangers. In the final ten minutes she knocked down three shots from downtown, with 11 points to rally past Northwestern Oklahoma who led as many as ten points in the third period.
Go Long
NSU junior
Cailyn Long is a returning All-MIAA performer for the RiverHawks after battling from a late season injury to average 13.7 points in 24 games. She missed three contests last season and came back late to grab a career high 29 points in the final contest of the season. In two seasons, Long has 641 career points, and has sank 98 three-pointers.
NSU Newcomers
The RiverHawks have six newcomers who will hit the floor this season with transfers
Joi Bertrand (Cal State Dominguez Hills / Cypress College),
Tree Brooks (Collin College),
Bailee Eldred (Murray State), and
Morgan Hellyer (Adelphi) , joining freshman
Cailey Cunningham (Fort Gibson HS), and
Cenia Hayes (Sequoyah HS).
At the Line
The 2016-17 Northeastern State squad broke a program record for the best free-throw percentage at .766, and besting a program mark that has been around since the 1991 season (.757).
A NSU win would…
- Move the series to 3-1 in favor of Northeastern State.
- Be consecutive home wins.
- Move the RiverHawks to 8-6 at the NSU Event Center in the month of November.
A SAU win would…
- The first win of the season.
- First win on the road since Dec. 15, 2016 at Philander Smith College.
- Second win in a row over the RiverHawks to even the series at 2-2.
Up next
The RiverHawks will go on the road this Saturday to face Southwestern Oklahoma at 2 p.m. in Weatherford.
