NORMAN – Northeastern State matched Oklahoma's firepower out of the gates but turnovers and hot Sooners shooting led to a 119-45 exhibition loss on Monday evening inside the Lloyd Noble Center.
 
Bailee Eldred paced the RiverHawks with 11 points and Joi Bertrand had eight points with seven rebounds.
 
Behind 7-for-10 shooting, the RiverHawks were within a point of the Sooners, 18-17, heading into the first quarter media timeout.
 
NSU's shooting quickly cooled and turnovers sunk the RiverHawks in the first half with Sooners scoring 31 points off 19 miscues.  To compound the problems for the Green and White, the Sooners shot a blazing 63.4-percent in the first half and rained down eight treys.
 
The RiverHawks never could recover and shot 28.6-percent (14-49) from the field in their second exhibition contest against a Big 12 program in the last eight days.
 
IN THE BOX SCORE

• The Sooners outscored the RiverHawks 53-2 in points off turnovers.
• Oklahoma dropped 17 three pointers with Taylor Robertson having seven.
• Northeastern State had two scoreless stretches in the first half where Sooners scored 32 points.
• Cailyn Long had seven points in 20 minutes of play.
• The RiverHawks were out-rebounded 43-to-31.

 
HEAD COACH FALA BULLOCK OKLAHOMA POSTGAME
We struggled again with length, turning the ball over was very hazardous for us tonight…it was good for us to face that and it will give us something to work on this week.  Early on, they (Oklahoma) didn't press us and we were finding our gaps on the offense, playing with a lot of energy.  We got worn down a little bit and as we started transitioning with substitutions, I thought we got a little looser with the ball, and when they jumped those passing lanes we weren't meeting our passes.
 
COMING UP
Northeastern State will open regular season play at home for the MIAA/GAC Challenge; the RiverHawks will face East Central at 5 p.m.