TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State held off a late charge by Nebraska-Keaney to give head women's basketball coach
Keith Ferguson his 200th career win and first in MIAA play with a 74-71 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Halie Jones sank five three-pointers and led NSU with 25 points as the RiverHawks downed the defending MIAA Champions and snapped an 18-game skid to the Lopers that dated back to 2014.
"This is one of the most special moments of my coaching career here," Ferguson said on winning his 200th game, "To get it against Nebraska-Kearney in a game like that, you don't get that if you don't have great players and great assistants, and I've had a lot of those."
After the visiting Lopers started the matchup on a 7-0 scoring run, the RiverHawks responded with 10 unanswered before finishing out the opening quarter in a back-and-forth firefight with the UNK offense.
Amid a 14-14 stalemate over the game's first ten minutes, the RiverHawks were strong on both ends of the floor in the second quarter, shooting six-of-ten (60.0%) while limiting the Lopers to only half as many conversions across five more attempts (3-of-15, 20.0%) to push to a 34-27 edge at the break.
More of the same fireworks commenced in the third, as a +7 period made the score 57-43 entering the final stanza. A made basket 13 seconds into the fourth gave NSU their largest lead of the day at 16 (59-43), but the UNK offense caught fire the rest of the day, finding 28 points while limiting NSU to just two more made field goals on the day. Despite the late push from UNK being paired with a quieter fourth quarter for NSU, the deficit proved too great to overcome, as the Lopers were left with no choice but to send a half-court heave in an attempt to tie at the buzzer. The final deep misfire secured the RiverHawk triumph.
The 25-point output for Jones marked a career-high, while she provided five rebounds and three assists, with as many steals in the win.
To're Alford joined Jones in hitting double figures with 16 points and putting together a perfect six-of-six showing at the free-throw line, while
Brennan Kirchhoff tied with
Tess Talo Tomokino for third on the team in scoring with nine. Kirchhoff made her presence felt on the defensive end, too, tying with Jones for the team lead in steals by picking three Loper pockets.
"Our kids dug in and I'm really happy for them," Ferguson said on the win, "They earned that. They did a lot of hard things. They took a lot of hard coaching for a while. That's a great win to get."
The RiverHawks return to action on Dec. 9, facing Emporia State on the road at 6 p.m.
