TAHLEQUAH – Destiny Strange was a rebound and point short of a double-double in her return to the floor for NSU but they could not recover from a cold first half falling 57-39 to East Central on Friday evening.  Northeastern State would go 0-for-11 from the field the second period to open the season 0-1.
 
East Central (1-0) led from coast-to-coast behind a 19-point effort from Tia Williams.  The Tigers will face Central Oklahoma in the second half of the MIAA/GAC Challenge at noon on Saturday.
 
Cailyn Long came in second on the scoring list for NSU with seven; Joi Bertrand had four points and four blocks.  Julia Hill and Maddie Morrow both grabbed five rebounds for NSU.
 
TURNING POINT
Northeastern State went 11:53 in-between buckets from the end of the first period to the start of the third.  During that span, the Tigers went on an 18-3 run on the RiverHawks.
 
GAME NOTES

• The RiverHawks did not make a bucket in the second quarter.
• At the intermission, Northeastern State shot 2-for-21 from the field.
• East Central had a 37-to-36 edge on the glass.
•  The Tigers scored 25 points off 24 Northeastern State turnovers.
•  Northeastern State closed the gap to nine points twice in the second half.
• Snapped a four game NSU winning streak over East Central.

COMING UP
Northeastern State will return to action on Saturday evening where they will face Northwestern Oklahoma (0-1) at 5 p.m.