TAHLEQUAH – An offensive lull in the middle quarters set Northeastern State back on Saturday, falling 65-50 to Pittsburg State at the NSU Event Center.   Bailee Eldred paced the RiverHawks (9-9, 5-6 MIAA) with 13 points and finished the two game homestand with a split; Lauryn Blevins added 11 and Cailyn Long had nine.
 
The Gorillas (16-5, 9-3 MIAA) had a pair with 20 point afternoons with Shelby Lopez having a game high 22 points.
 
Northeastern State ran out early with the lead thanks to solid inside play by Eldred who had ten points in the opening quarter, and maintained a 16-14 advantage over the Gorillas.  The RiverHawks' full head of steam came halt in the second quarter with Pitt State overtaking the lead with nine unanswered points.  A Lauryn Blevins layup with 16 seconds to the half halted the run but they trailed PSU 30-25 into the locker room.
 
In the second half, the RiverHawks missed their first six shots and didn't hit a bucket until Cailyn Long connected on a layup with 3:10 in the quarter. Trailing 41-28, following the Long shot, the RiverHawks closed the period on a 7-2 run to get back within eight of the Gorillas. 
 
Following the quarter stoppage, Pitt State opened with an 8-2 run on a pair of key three-pointers to take a 51-37 lead on the RiverHawks; Northeastern State would trail by double digits the rest of the way.
 
The RiverHawks finished the afternoon shooting 34.5 percent on the floor (19-55) and only connected on 3-for-12 attempts from the arc; Pitt State was 43.5 percent (27-62) on their side of the court.
 
HEAD COACH FALA BULLOCK ON SATURDAY'S GAME AGAINST PITT STATE
There were some good moments defensively we were getting stops early. In the first quarter, I thought we really stuck in there and defended well.  We got fatigued there in the second half and weren't quite working as hard as we need to.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
10 – Offensive rebounds were even on both sides with the RiverHawks trailing 39-to-37 on the glass.
13 – Pitt State outscored the RiverHawks 13-to-0 on second chance points.
 
COMING UP
Northeastern State heads on the road next and will travel to Southwest Baptist on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.