WICHITA, Kansas – Northeastern State (6-14 in MIAA) women's basketball had three players score in double figures and outrebounded Newman (3-16 in MIAA) by 20 in a 76-63 road victory.
The RiverHawks were led by
Zaria Collins with 24 points and 17 rebounds while
Isabella Regalado netted 18 and
Cenia Hayes added 16. The latter two made five 3-pointers apiece. Collins' 17 were the most since Hayes had the same stat line at Nebraska-Kearney on Jan. 12, 2019.
"[We had] great 3-point shooting today from Cenia and Bella," head coach
Fala Bullock said. "What an incredible off-the-bench performance [Regalado] had. Our whole team was shooting well and everybody ready to shoot. I was impressed by the willingness to share the ball and put teammates in position to receive the ball."
Hayes came out firing from deep for the second-straight game hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to give NSU an early 6-0 advantage. The Jets, however, went on a 12-0 run to get back into the game. Collins pulled down an offensive rebound to end the run.
To open the second quarter Newman led 18-14 but the Northeastern State Wichita native,
Britney Ho, scored the first four points to bring NSU back within a possession. With 5:55 remaining NSU tied the game at 23 via a Collins layup.
Isabella Regalado then hit her second 3-pointer of the game for the first lead since the 6:36 mark in the first stanza. At halftime, NSU trailed by two, 36-34, and Collins had nearly notched a double-double with nine points to go with nine boards.
"I'm really proud of the girls," Bullock said. "They were down two at halftime and they didn't crumble. They came back in the second half and played a complete second half and the 3-point shooting in the second half was excellent."
The teams exchanged leads until the 2:39 mark in the third quarter when NSU led by one, 48-47. The RiverHawks then went on a 16-4 run to take control. During that run, Regalado made three 3-pointers and NSU held Newman scoreless for six minutes into the fourth quarter.Â
The Jets made a late push in the final ten minutes to get within nine but NSU closed the door on a 6-2 run.
NSU shot 40.0 percent from deep which is the best since they made 15 at Emporia State on Feb. 4 and the five makes for Regalado were a career-high while Hayes tied her career-high. Collins made 10 of her 12 attempts for the game. Scoring 76 points were the most in regulation since the 84-82 setback at Pitt State Dec. 5.
On the glass, NSU pulled down 15 offensive boards and are now 3-3 in 2020-21 when outrebounding an opponent. The plus-20 margin, 44-24, was the best in the Bullock era.
"[Zaria] was cleaning up a lot defensively and I was excited to see us win that defensive battle. That was a big double-double," Bullock said. "We were really good about finding the body, boxing out, and clearing the rebound."
The Jets were led by Makayla Hayes with 13 points as she tried to keep pace with her Northeastern State namesake in the first half from beyond the arc making three 3-pointers.
NSU visits Central Oklahoma to close the road slate Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Bronchos controlled the glass in its Jan. 7 71-44 win in Tahlequah.
NOTES: After halftime, the RiverHawks committed just four turnovers compared to the 11 in the first 20 minutes…Career-high scoring for Regalado in 19 minutes of action, and was the most points scored off the bench for a RiverHawk this season…Collins' 17 rebounds tied for the
Fala Bullock era record and was her career-high…NSU is now 2-5 on Thursday evening games in 2020-21…15th double-digit scoring game this season for Hayes…Fourth 20-plus point game and third double-double performance of Collins' career, all coming this season…Northeastern State now holds a 4-1 series advantage with Newman.
