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Zac Cahill

Women's Basketball closes home slate with Newman and Central Oklahoma

Northeastern State vs. Newman Thursday, Feb. 17 | 5:30 p.m. | NSU Event Center
Northeastern State vs. Central Okla. Saturday, Feb. 19 | 1:30 p.m. | NSU Event Center
Game Notes Northeastern State •  Newman • Central Okla.
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The Setup

  • Northeastern State hosts its final home games of the season, looking for a season sweep over Newman on Thursday.  Then they will close out the home slate with historic rivals from Edmond, Central Oklahoma, on Senior Day.
  • Saturday's Senior Day will take place following the women's game.

Last Time Out

at (4/4) Fort Hays State 78, Northeastern State 59 | February 12, 2022 | Hays, Kan.
  • The RiverHawks had three scoring in double figures but an uneven second half and 16 steals by the Tigers led to a 78-59 loss to (4/4) Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon. 
  • Zaria Collins paced NSU with 14 points off the bench and was a pair of rebounds short of a double-double.  Maleeah Langstaff had 13, and Maegan Lee added 12 points. 
  • Northeastern State never led but kept within single digits of the Tigers through the first 20 minutes. 
  • Ashton Hackler nailed a trey to start the second half to trim the FHSU deficit to 43-38, but seven minutes would lapse in-between buckets as the Tigers launched a 16-4 run to put the game out of reach for the RiverHawks. 

Storylines

  • Maleeah Langstaff is among the top-100 in the nation in 10 statistical categories this season and is second in the MIAA, shooting 51.9-percent from the field.  The senior is among the MIAA leaders with 6.3 defensive rebounds per game and fourth in the association with 9.0 rebounds per game.  This season, Langstaff has eight double-double games and is the only player in the MIAA with a triple-double.
  • In the previous five games, Zaria Collins came off the bench averaging 6.6 rebounds per game and 6.4 points per game.  This season, Collins has missed five games due to injuries and is still second on the NSU roster in scoring with 12.3 points per game. 
  • Morgan Lee leads the RiverHawks with 99 games played with 67 starts.  Against Bacone this season, Lee had a career-high seven steals which was tied for 12-most in NCAA Division II women's basketball.   Her twin-sister Maegan Lee is third on the NSU roster averaging 8.7 points per game this season.  The RiverHawks have a third Lee in true-freshman Courtney Lee, who is not related to the Lee Twins and has seen the floor in 23 games.
  • Ashton Hackler has started the last 14 games and has scored at-least ten points in ten games during her true-freshman season.  She is 14th in the MIAA with 32 made three-pointers.  
  • After missing the first six games due to injury, true-freshman Jaylee Kindred made her career debut at Northwest Missouri and her first start at Central Oklahoma.  Kailyn Lay started and made her NSU debut against Pittsburg State on Dec. 12.
  • Northeastern State's 62 team rebounds against Bacone is an MIAA high tied for 22nd-most in NCAA Division II women's basketball this season.
  • NSU has a 637 game streak of making at least one three-pointer.  Dec. 30, 1999, at Central Arkansas is the last time Northeastern State without making a trey.
  • The RiverHawks are entering their tenth season as members of the MIAA and 25th season as an NCAA Division II program.

About Newman

  • Nichole Ohlde-Johnson is the co-head coach for the Jets.  Johnson was a two-time Big 12 player of the Year from Kansas State and was drafted sixth overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx.  
  • The Jets have not won a game this season against a D2 foe and have lost its last 18 games.  On the road this season, Newman is winless in nine tries, with all but one game being a double-digit loss. 
  • This season, scoring has been an issue for the Jets with 58 points per game; they are last in the MIAA and among the bottom 20 nationally.   Tiffany Dortland, a transfer from Barton Community College, leads the team with 10.4 points per game, and is ranked 13th in the MIAA in steals.  
  • Against MIAA programs, the Jets are averaging 47.0 points while allowing 67.6.

Last Time They Met

Northeastern State 67, at Newman 57 | January 8, 2022 | Wichita, Kan.
  • Behind a career game from freshman Ashton Hackler, Northeastern State withstood a fourth-quarter run from Newman but picked up a 67-57 road win Saturday.
  • Hackler was 6-for-9 from the field, landing three treys, good for a team-high 18 points.  After missing Thursday's game in Edmond, Zaria Collins paced the NSU bench with 15 points.  In her first start of the season, Tess Talo Tomokino turned in a career-high nine points and seven rebounds.
  • The RiverHawks shot 42.6-percent (23-54), making 7-for-17 at the arc; they out-rebounded the Jets by one with 37 as a team.

Series Notes

Northeastern State leads series 5-1 | 2-0 at home | 2-1 in Wichita | 1-0 neutral
  • Among MIAA programs, Newman has one of the shorter histories with the NSU women's basketball program.
  • First meeting between the two programs came in the 2012 NCAA Central Regional.
  • In Tahlequah, Northeastern State is 2-0 when facing the Jets.

About Central Okla.

  • Central enters the week in a three-way tie for seventh place in the MIAA regular season standings.   The Bronchos have clinched a spot in the postseason tournament but could land anywhere from the fourth seed to tenth seed. 
  • Kelsey Johnson leads UCO with 12 double-doubles this season and leads the MIAA with 21.2 points per game, and she is second in rebounding at 9.8.  The COVID-senior has over 1,000 points in 2+ seasons at UCO and is a career 57.1-percent shooter, which is 12th best among active players in D2 Women's Basketball. 
  • Central Oklahoma is first in the MIAA in causing 19.1 turnovers per game and holds the nation's 17th best free-throw percentage at 78.2.  However, the Bronchos commit the second most fouls in the nation and average 21.7 per game. 

Last Time They Met

at Central Oklahoma 69, Northeastern State 52 | January 6, 2022 | Edmond, Okla.
  • A seven-minute scoreless run in the second quarter proved to be a difference-maker for the shorthanded RiverHawks Thursday in a 69-52 loss at Central Oklahoma. 
  • Entering the contest, Northeastern State has been idle since Dec. 18, with its first two games in 2022 postponed due to COVID protocols.   Additionally, NSU was forced to play with its leading scorers and rebounders Maleeah Langstaff and Zaria Collins.  The pair accounts for nearly half of the RiverHawks' offensive output and boards.
  • Without Langstaff and Collins rebounding hunted NSU, Central out-rebounded them by 20 (48-28) and out-scored them 21-to-7 on second-chance points.

Series Notes

Northeastern State trails series 40-32 | 20-15 at home | 16-17 in Edmond | 4-0 neutral
  • One of the oldest active series for NSU dating back to Feb. 25, 1978.
  • Northeastern State is 20-15 in Tahlequah but has lost five straight to UCO.  The RiverHawks last win over the 'Chos' on NSU's home court was on Dec. 19, 2015 (74-61).
  • Head Coach Fala Suiaunoa played against UCO four times and was 3-1 against the 'Chos.
  • The 11 game winning streak by UCO is the longest by either team in the series' history.
  • Thursday will be the 14th meeting between the two teams in Edmond.
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