TAHLEQUAH – A go-ahead bucket with five seconds remaining by Nebraska-Kearney upended Northeastern State 66-65 on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Event Center. 
 
Joi Bertrand was a rebound short of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the RiverHawks (9-13, 5-10 MIAA) off the bench; Bailee Eldred added 12 points and Cailyn Long scored nine.
 
The Lopers (19-4, 11-4), winners of eight of their last nine got a key and-one bucket with 27 seconds remaining to go ahead 64-63.  Bertrand would put the RiverHawks back up a point with a layup from underneath the post to tip NSU ahead by one.  Holding onto the ball, the Lopers drove back down the court and hit a one-handed jumper in front of the bucket with five seconds remaining to get back ahead 66-65.
 
Northeastern State would burn their final timeout and advance the ball to in front of their bench.  On the inbound pass, NSU had a difficult time finding an open player, and the ball would be stolen by UNK to allow them to close the contest with the win.
 
The RiverHawks would end up out-shooting the Lopers 46.2 percent (24-52) to 38.6 percent (22-57) on the floor.  Turnovers were near even but UNK would be more effective on NSU miscues and outscored them 21-to-10.
 
UNK's McKenzie Brown played a major factor in the balance of the game with career high 34 points on 12-for-24 shooting.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7 – Morgan Hellyer matched her NSU career high with seven points.
10 – Northeastern State had a ten-point lead (46-36) with 1:27 left in the third period before the Lopers went on an 18-6 run in the next five minutes.
13 – Bertrand has scored 13 points in back-to-back games.
 
COMING UP
Northeastern State heads on the road next will face Fort Hays State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.