EDMOND -- A run of 18 unanswered points in the second quarter would be the difference Friday for the RiverHawks as they fell 70-61 in their season opener to the University of Mary. 

Maegan Lee paced NSU with a career high 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting.  Zaria Collins had 14 points and seven rebounds.  

The RiverHawks (0-1) started the contest with momentum sinking three treys with the Lee twins both having five points, and they took a 15-6 lead on UMary by the 3:31 mark.  However, NSU would go cold and allowed a 9-0 run to close out the quarter.  

UMary (2-2) controlled the first nine minutes of the second quarter and took an 18-0 run on NSU, taking a 38-22 lead.  Thanks to seven unanswered points,  Northeastern State limited the damage into the intermission thanks to seven unanswered points, trimming the UMary lead to 39-29.

Out of the half, UMary came out of the locker room on a 12-3 run, extending their lead to 51-32 by the 3:43 mark.   The RiverHawks rode a burst of momentum and forced four UMary turnovers to trim their lead back out to ten and finished the quarter trailing 54-42.

In the final ten minutes, the UMary lead remained in double-digits until the closing minute, with NSU scoring five unanswered to the final horn. 

NSU finished the game shooting 38.1-percent on the floor (24-63) while going 8-for-25 at the arc.  UMary out-rebounded the RiverHawks 44-to-28.  

Maleeah Langstaff led NSU with eight rebounds and had seven points. 

The RiverHawks return to action Saturday, where they will face Northwestern Oklahoma at 1 p.m. in Edmond.