TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State couldn't recover from a 26 point second quarter by Fort Hays State to fall 64-44 on Thursday night in the NSU Event Center.

Rylie Torrey led the RiverHawks on the floor with a game high 15 points, Kylie Looney scored 11, and added a career eight boards in the loss.  Mary Jane Buschmann grabbed eight off the glass and matched her career mark for assists with four.  Destiny Strange had seven rebounds and six points.

Northeastern State shot 25.4-percent (15-59) which matched their season low that was set on Jan. 21, 2017 in a 43-39 home loss to Central Oklahoma.  The RiverHawks dropped nine treys with Torrey and Looney both making three.  At the line, NSU went 5-for-11 or 45.5-percent, which was also their season low.

The Tigers shot 39.1-percent (27-69) on the floor and pulled down 52 rebounds which was 14 more than NSU's total.   In points off of turnovers and in the fast break FHSU was 29-0 over the RiverHawks.

NSU led as many as seven on the Tigers in the closing minute of the opening quarter but Fort Hays State scored seven unanswered to tie the contest at 17 each to start the second period.  Both teams traded buckets for the next few minutes until Torrey hit a layup to give NSU the lead for the final time at the 6:29 mark.  FHSU finished the half on a 17-3 run on the RiverHawks to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room. 

In the second half, Alexis Hill sank a trey for NSU's first points in the third period but Fort Hays State went on a 20-4 run to pull ahead 58-32 for their largest lead of the evening with 4:37 left.

Tatyana Legette had a double-double for FHSU with 14 points and 13 boards as the Tigers go to 19-6 and 10-6 in the MIAA.  The RiverHawks fall to 6-18 and 2-14 in league play.

Northeastern State will host Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in their final home contest of the season.