TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State pulled off a Monday matinee shocker downing No. 5/6 Fort Hays State 67-58 inside the NSU Event Center. 

The win is the first over a ranked team since NSU beat No. 24 Azusa Pacific on Nov. 24, 2018 and the last time the RiverHawks beat a top-five team was on Jan. 22, 2014, against No. 2 Emporia State (59-44). 

Fort Hays got off to a 9-2 start to the game, and it was all RiverHawks for the next 25 minutes of play.   After taking a seven-point lead at the half, NSU blasted the Tigers, outscoring them by 13 in the third stanza.  

The 20 point advantage was enough for the RiverHawks to withstand a fourth-quarter rally by the Tigers, limiting NSU to just one made bucket.  Fort Hays State pressed NSU, but they made enough free throws to get their first win over the Tigers since Jan. 2014, snapping a 16 game win-streak over the RiverHawks. 

Maleeah Langstaff paced NSU for the 13th time this season, with her ninth 20-point performance scoring a game-high 24 points and having seven rebounds.  Ashton Hackler scored 16 as the team's second-leading scorer.

The RiverHawks limited the Tigers to 37.5-percent shooting and were 3-for-16 at the arc.

"I'm proud of the girl's effort; they found a way down to the last second," said head coach Fala Suiaunoa.  "We went out and made sure that every three-point attempt was going to be a difficult shot and the ladies did a fantastic job on that.  Fort Hays is an incredible ball club. They came at us with everything they had at the end.  Our kids fought hard and came together and found a way to win."

Zaria Collins had eight points, seven rebounds, and three steals off the bench.  Morgan Lee had six, and Jessica Barrow added five.  

Northeastern State outrebounded the Tigers by 15 with 38 and shot 48.8-percent (21-43) on the floor. 

Fort Hays State suffered its first road loss of the season and slipped to 19-3 (13-3 MIAA)

The RiverHawks improve to 5-17 (3-13 MIAA) and will head to Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday.