Game 23: Northeastern State (9-13, 5-11 MIAA) vs. Fort Hays State (19-5, 10-5 MIAA) at 5:30 p.m. | February 15, 2018
Hays, Kan. | Gross Memorial Coliseum
 

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

The Series 
Northeastern State is 2-10 when facing Fort Hays State with their two wins coming in Tahlequah.  The RiverHawks have lost nine straight to the Tigers after winning two of the first three meetings.  Both teams have faced each other in the MIAA Tournament twice (2013, 2015).

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 107-87 overall and within conference play she is 66-63.  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.

Tony Hobson (197-90) is in his 10th season as head coach of the Fort Hays State women's basketball program and is in his 26th year overall as a head coach with a 609-195 record.  Entering the 2017-18 season, Hobson is ranked 12th in win percentage among active coaches in NCAA Division II with a four-year college win percentage of .757 (391-126).  The Tigers have had six-consecutive 20-win seasons, which is the longest streak in its program's history.

Last Time Out for NSU 
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 off the bench; Bailee Eldred added 12 points and Cailyn Long scored nine.  The Lopers, winners of eight of their last nine got a key and-one bucket with 27 seconds remaining to go ahead 64-63.  The RiverHawks would end up out-shooting the Lopers 46.2 percent (24-52) to 38.6 percent (22-57) on the floor. 

Last Time Out for Fort Hays State
A late rally from the Fort Hays State women's basketball team came up one bucket short, with Central Oklahoma holding on to win 72-70 Saturday afternoon.  The teams went back and forth all afternoon, with neither side leading by more than six points until UCO began to pull away midway through the fourth quarter. The Bronchos built their lead up to 10 points with less than three minutes to play, 72-62, but the Tigers fought all the way back to have a chance to win late.

MIAA Defense 
Northeastern State is second in MIAA play in field goal defense 37.4 percent, and are first in three-point defense at 28.7 percent.  When facing MIAA programs, NSU is averaging nearly five blocks a game which is fourth best with Joi Bertrand third in league blocks at 1.7 per game.

Coming Up
The RiverHawks will remain on the road to visit Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday at 2 p.m.