The headline: Northeastern State plays their fourth game of the season against a top-15 school with Central Missouri visiting on Saturday and will be seeking to stop a seven game skid.  With the MIAA postseason tournament coming at the end of the month the RiverHawks are one game back of Northwest Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney for the final spot into the tournament.  The RiverHawks will have an opportune chance to climb up in the standings with two games against the Lopers in final six regular season contests.  Rylie Torrey continues to pace the RiverHawks in scoring with 17.1 points a game which is fourth highest in the MIAA.  The NSU sophomore has scored 10+ points in all 20 games this season.

At the line: Northeastern State leads the MIAA in free-throw percentage and entering this Thursday's contest are 78.6-percent at the line with Rylie Torrey pacing the league at 89.4-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: Thursday night was a tale of two-halves for Northeastern State who fell flat in the second half to drop a 76-55 contest at the NSU Event Center to Southwest Baptist.

The RiverHawks led as many as ten points in the first half but shot 7-for-24 in the final 20 minutes, and scored only 17 points.

Mary Jane Buschmann paced NSU with 17 points and Rylie Torrey scored 13.  The RiverHawks were limited in rebounds with Southwest Baptist picking up 42 and Northeastern State grabbing 27 off the glass.   Destiny Strange led NSU with six boards and Miranda Griffin added five.  

Northeastern State shot 41.8-percent (23-55) from the field but went 4-for-18 at the arc; Southwest Baptist was 43.8-percent (28-64) on their side of the floor.

The RiverHawks came out of the gates hot and shot 51.6-percent in the first half.  In the second period, NSU led as many as ten points but the Bearcats followed up on a 10-2 run and a Griffin jumper at the buzzer gave the RiverHawks a 38-34 lead into the locker room.

In the second half the Bearcats opened up 14 unanswered points and NSU wouldn't hit their first bucket until Griffin found the hoop at the 3:28 mark.  Southwest Baptist outscored NSU 21-8 in the period to carry a 55-46 lead in the final ten minutes.
Things didn't improve for NSU in the fourth quarter as Southwest Baptist continued their hot play with 57.1-percent shooting while the RiverHawks went 3-for-13 from the field.   Southwest Baptist's lead grew to its largest at 22 points with 1:17 left before reaching the 76-55 final score.
 

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Northeastern State (6-14, 2-10 MIAA) vs. #14 Central Missouri (17-3, 10-2 MIAA)
Feb. 4, 2017 | 12:30 p.m. | NSU Event Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio 

The series with Central Missouri: In the short history between the two programs, Central Missouri has won the first five meetings against the RiverHawks.  

Last time out for Central Missouri:  A big first quarter from Central Oklahoma proved to be the difference in the Jennies 65-55 loss to the Bronchos Thursday night. The loss snaps the Jennies seven game winning streak and moves them to 17-3 on the season, 10-2 in the MIAA.

The Jennies were tied with the Bronchos for first place in the MIAA. With the win, Central Oklahoma takes over sole possession a top the league standings.

Paige Redmond was the Jennies leading scorer with 23 points. She finished 8-for-16 from the floor and 5-for-8 from three. She also shared the team lead with six rebounds, dished out two assists and had one of two UCM blocked shots. Redmond is two points shy from reaching 500 in her career.

No other Jennie reached double-digit points. Ashley Duffy scored eight with five rebounds and a pair of triples. Kelsey Williams and Megan Skaggs each added seven points.

Scouting Central Missouri: The Jennies come to the NSU Event Center winners of seven of their last eight with their loss on Thursday to UCO snapping a seven game winning streak.  On the road this season UCM is 7-2 with their other road loss coming at the hand to Fort Hays State (69-59).  Central Missouri is third in the MIAA in three-point percentage (36.7) and they average nearly eight treys a game.  Paige Redmond leads the Jennies with 16 points game and on the boards Kayonna Lee grabs 8.5 off the glass.  

NSU's last time out against Central Missouri: Cailyn Long came off the bench to lead NSU with 15 points in the RiverHawks last meeting with Central Missouri with NSU falling 74-56.  She connected on 4-of-6 shots from behind the 3-point line. Mary Jane Buschmann registered 13 points, four rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists before fouling out.

NSU shot 43.1 percent (22-for-51) overall, 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from behind the arc and 62.5 percent (5-for-8) at the free-throw line. Central Missouri shot 50 percent (29-for-58) from the field, 40.9 percent (9-for-22) from deep and 70 percent (7-for-10) at the line.

UCM's leading scorer, Shelby Winkelmann, entered the game second in the MIAA at 21.1 points per game. The RiverHawks became the first team all season to keep her in single digits, as she could only manage a paltry nine points on a season-worst 3-of-11 shooting. Ashley Jones led the Jennies with 20 points, while Ashley Duffy and Danielle Randle both netted 13 and Paige Redmond added 11.    

Central Missouri led in rebounding (35-26), assists (21-16), steals (11-9), points in the paint (30-18), points off turnovers (20-18), second-chance points (12-0), and fewer turnovers (13-15). NSU led in blocks (7-1), fast-break points (17-8) and bench points (23-16).