TAHLEQUAH – Bailee Eldred's career night sparked Northeastern State to a 75-67 win over Emporia State on Thursday at the NSU Event Center.  Eldred had her fourth double-double of the season for NSU (10-15, 6-12 MIAA) with a career high 19 points and ten rebounds to take down the Lady Hornets (16-9, 11-7 MIAA).
 
The double-double was the second consecutive for Eldred who also added three steals and had a block.  Cailyn Long had 13 points off the bench and Miranda Griffin added ten. 
 
Northeastern State's suffocating defense shut down the Lady Hornets who led early in the contest.  A Joi Bertrand layup at the 6:20 mark in the first quarter started string of 11 straight points in the next four minutes to pull the RiverHawks ahead for the rest of the contest.  For ten minutes on the floor, NSU forced five Lady Hornet turnovers, and went 3-for-15 from the field. 
 
The RiverHawks led as many as 14-points but ESU was not out of the contest and they wiggled their way back within a pair of points (54-52) with 7:52 left.  Long went back-to-back from the arc and Alexis Hill hit a layup for a quick 8-0 run to halt the rally for ESU.
 
From the field NSU took their second fewest shots of the season at 48 and landed half of them, while holding Emporia State to 36.5-percent (23-63).  The RiverHawks had a season high 12 takeaways and Hill had six assists, which was her personal season mark. 
 
Northeastern State is already locked in for the MIAA Tournament cannot fall down further than their current position of 11th place.  With a win on Saturday over Washburn and a loss by Southwest Baptist at Nebraska-Kearney, the RiverHawks could climb up a spot in the standings.  Lindenwood is in the mix as well but a loss earlier in the season would give the Lions the tiebreaker. 

HEAD COACH FALA BULLOCK ON STRONG SHOOTING NIGHT FOR NORTHEASTERN STATE
"We hit some shots today; I'll take those numbers any day of the week. We've been struggling from the outside with shots rimming out, so tonight it was a good team effort with everybody being able to get their feet set and knocking them down. When we had our opportunities we finished more plays than we hadn't." 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5 – Northeastern State snapped a five game skid to Emporia Sate.
37 – The RiverHawks led for 37 minutes to halt a seven game losing streak. 
41 – Emporia State out-rebounded the RiverHawks 41-30.
 
COMING UP
Northeastern State will host Washburn on Saturday for their regular season finale at 1:30 p.m.