Game 18: Northeastern State (9-8, 5-5 MIAA) vs. Pittsburg State (15-5, 8-3 MIAA) at 12:30 p.m. | January 27, 2018
Tahlequah, Okla. | NSU Event Center
 

Live Stats	sidearmstats.com/nsuok/wbball/
Live Stats for Media	sidearmstats.com/nsuok/wbball/media
Live Audio	GoRiverHawksGo.com
Live Streaming Audio	portal.stretchinternet.com/nsu/
Play-by-Play	Bill Huddleston
Live Streaming Video	TheMIAANetwork.com ($)
	Northeastern State Game Notes
	Pitt State Game Notes

The Series 
Northeastern State holds a 6-3 series advantage over Pitt State when hosting the Gorillas in Tahlequah.  In 29 meetings with Pitt State, the RiverHawks trail the overall series 17-11, and have lost the last seven in a row.  Within the NSU Event Center confines, the two programs have met only once on Jan. 28, 2015; Northeastern State has made three trips in a row to Pitt State.

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 107-82 overall and within conference play she is 66-58.  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.

Lane Lord is in his 11th season at PSU and has compiled a 223-100 record in his tenure, including five trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and the program's first two Elite Eight appearances. He has led the Gorillas to four straight NCAA Tournament berths (2014-17) and his Pitt State program has averaged 24.7 wins during the past six seasons (2012-17), compiling a 149-43 record.

Last Time Out for NSU 
Northeastern State withstood a late Missouri Southern rally to pick up a 63-60 win behind a double-double performance by Lauryn Blevins on Wednesday evening at the NSU Event Center.  Blevins had 14 points and ten rebounds for the RiverHawks who had three others in double figures against the Lions.  Miranda Griffin added 11 points with Cailyn Long and Joi Bertrand both having ten points each for the RiverHawks who earned their first win over the Lions in the last four ties.

Last Time Out for Pitt State
Sophomore forward Athena Alvarado scored a career high 20 points and the Pittsburg State University women's basketball team outscored No. 16 Central Oklahoma 20-8 over the game's final 8:35 to claim a 71-65 road win Thursday in Edmond.

MIAA Defense 
Northeastern State is second in MIAA play in field goal defense 36.0 percent, and are tied for first in three-point defense at 26.7 percent.  When facing MIAA programs, NSU is averaging nearly five blocks a game which is fourth best with Joi Bertrand fourth in league blocks at 1.6 per game.

Coming Up
The RiverHawks will on the road this upcoming week and will visit Southwest Baptist on Feb. 1 for a 5:30 tip-off.