DENTON, Texas – A hot fourth quarter by the RiverHawks assisted in giving them a rare win south of the Red River on Tuesday with Northeastern State (6-4) slicing past Texas Woman's (5-5) 66-58 at Kitty Magee Arena.  Miranda Griffin paced Northeastern State with a career high 16-points and Cenia Hayes having a career high 11 rebounds against the Pioneers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Northeastern State opened the contest with five answered points but both teams struggled in the opening quarter making three-shots each to finish the period tied 9-9.
• The lead exchanged hands five times before Griffin had a jumper with 47-seconds left in the half to tie the game at 20; Hayes pushed the RiverHawks ahead with a bucket while being fouled, she would sink the free-throw to let NSU take a three-point lead at the intermission.
• TWU opened the second half with a quick bucket before NSU went scored six unanswered points to lead 30-22 with 7:22 left in the third period.
• The Pioneers closed the gap and were within one (34-33) following a layup by Alexis Nezianya with 3:34 in the period.
• After trading buckets with the RiverHawks, TWU tied the game at 38 on a Nezianya layup with 1:38 remaining in the third.
• Griffin and Hayes both hit shots to pull NSU ahead 42-38 after three-periods.
• Texas Woman's took advantage of a three-minute dry spell from the field by NSU to take the lead on a three-pointer by Whitney Apari with 6:26 left in the contest.
• Cailyn Long hit a three-pointer with 5:16 and 4:10 remaining to spark a 10-2 run to overtake TWU, 59-54, with 1:47 left.
• The Pioneers went the final 4:29 without a made bucket and fouled the RiverHawks in the final minutes to extend the game to no-avail.

NOTABLES

• Northeastern State shot 7-for-11 (63.3-percent) in the final period with Long having eight of NSU's 24 points.
• Joi Bertrand scored 12-points for the RiverHawks, which surpassed her NSU career mark of ten that was set at Northwest Missouri on Nov. 10 this season.
• Lauryn Blevins returned the floor for the first time since Nov. 25 at Southwestern Oklahoma.
• Northeastern State was out-rebounded 42-to-39 but controlled the points in the paint by eight with 36.
• The RiverHawks have won three games in a row in Texas; however, 2011 New Years was the last time they played south of the Red River.
• Northeastern State has matched their 2016-17 win total through ten games this season

UP NEXT

• Northeastern State will close out 2017 at home on Dec. 30 hosting Oklahoma Baptist at 2 p.m. in the NSU Event Center.