Game 11: Northeastern State (6-4) vs. Oklahoma Baptist (5-4) at 2 p.m. | December 30, 2017
Tahlequah, Okla. | NSU Event Center
 

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	Northeastern State Game Notes

The Series 
Northeastern State holds a slight 13-11 series lead over Oklahoma Baptist but it has not been since Nov. 14, 1995 that the Lady Bison have played in Tahlequah.  On New Year's Eve last year, the RiverHawks beat the Lady Bison 71-59 in their first clash since 1995 and it was their first win in Shawnee since the 1992-93 season.. 

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 104-78 overall and within conference play she is 63-55.  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.

Casi Bays (100-65) has been head coach at OBU since 2012 after two seasons as the assistant coach of the team. In her second season at the helm, Bays was named Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Bison to a 28-6 record, finishing second in the SAC regular season with a 17-3 conference record.

Last Time Out for NSU 
A hot fourth quarter by the RiverHawks assisted in giving them a rare win south of the Red River on Tuesday (Dec. 19) 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.

Last Time Out for OBU 
Oklahoma Baptist Coach Casi Bays got her 100th victory as her Lady Bison beat Kansas Christian 128-43 Saturday, Dec. 16.  The Lady Bison dished a school-record 36 assists eclipsing the old mark of 35 shared by the 1996-97 team against Manhattan Christian and the 2001-02 squad against Arkansas Baptist.  The 128 points ranks as the fourth-highest scoring total for OBU.

Downtown
The RiverHawks are second in the MIAA at defending the arc with teams shooting 24.9-percent. This season NSU averages 7.1 three-pointers a game which is fourth in the league. Cailyn Long paces the MIAA at the arc with 44.4-percent of her shots coming down, and averages 2.8 a game.  Nationally, Long is tied for 32nd in the nation in three-point percentage, and is 38th in three-pointers a game.

A NSU win would…

• Be back-to-back wins against Oklahoma Baptist for the first time since the 1991-92 season.
• Surpass their 2016-17 win total. 
• Be their longest winning streak since the start of the 2015-16 season. 

A OBU win would…

• Fourth straight non-conference win.
• Finish December with a 3-1 record.
• First win over at an Oklahoma institution since Feb. 18, 2016 (at Northwestern Oklahoma 78-53)

Coming Up
Northeastern State returns to MIAA play on Jan. 4 with Lindenwood coming to the NSU Event Center for a 5:30 p.m. tip.