TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State could not recover from a big third quarter by No. 20 ranked Texas A&M-Commerce and fell 74-50 Saturday afternoon inside the NSU Event Center.

The loss is the third consecutive for the RiverHawks, who fall to 2-5 overall.

The RiverHawks had nine who scored, but no one in double-digits. Cenia Hayes had nine points to lead NSU, and Morgan Hellyer added eight points and two blocks. 

Northeastern State opened the game missing their first 12 shots of the game with their defense keeping it at 10-2 after the ten minutes of play.  The buckets came in the second quarter with NSU going 9-for-14 from the field, and behind nine points from Hayes, they only trailed 27-21 at the intermission.

In the third quarter, the RiverHawks couldn't keep up with a hot Lions' offense who opened the period landing nine of their first 11 shots.  The Lions led as many as 21 points with just over three minutes remaining in the third.

Northeastern State trimmed down the A&M-Commerce lead down to 12 (55-43) after a Hellyer jumper with 8:10 left. However, they could not cut further into the Lions' advantage in the remaining time.

NSU limited the Lions to only two three-pointers, but they were 1-for-12 from the arc.  The Lions (7-0) controlled points off turnovers and second-chance points, outscoring NSU 32-to-7.

The RiverHawks return to the floor on Thursday, where they open MIAA play with Newman at 5:30 p.m. inside the Event Center.