TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State women's basketball returns home to the Event Center to host Missouri Western Thursday evening and Northwest Missouri Saturday. 

The RiverHawks (6-14, 3-14 MIAA) are coming off a 72-48 one-sided road victory at Rogers State last Saturday, and with six games remaining, they are in a fight for a postseason spot in the MIAA Tournament.  Four of those contests will be played in Tahlequah on NSU's home floor. 

Thursday's contest with the Griffons will be Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night.  The contest will recognize the amazing faculty and staff from all of NSU's campuses, and the Northeastern Activities Board (NAB) will also be in attendance participating in the festivities.  On Saturday, the RiverHawks will be in pink for its Breast Cancer Awareness Game against Northwest Missouri.

Missouri Western (20-5, 14-3 MIAA) will come to NSU winning 13 of their last 14 games.  On Saturday, they handed Emporia State a 76-60 loss to reach the 20-win mark for the second consecutive season.  Connie Clarke has ten double-doubles this season, and Brionna Budgetts is third in the MIAA in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game, and had 15 points in 23 minutes the last time she faced NSU. 

Entering the week, Northwest Missouri (11-11, 6-10 MIAA) is three games ahead of NSU in the MIAA standings in eighth place.  The Bearcats snapped a three-game skid Saturday with a 76-75 overtime win over Washburn.      Molly Hartnett leads Northwest with 12.9 points per game against NSU in Maryville; she matched a season-high with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting.  Northwest will be in Claremore Thursday to face Rogers State before heading to NSU Saturday. 

Ashton Hackler has scored at least ten points in her previous four outings and leads the RiverHawks in scoring at 13.9 points per game.  The sophomore is 11th overall in the MIAA in scoring this season, and she is third best at the free throw line, shooting 82.9 percent.  Courtney Lee is seventh in the MIAA with 7.5 rebounds per game and has 12 points per game.  Jaylee Kindred is averaging 12.6 points in the last five games.

Tickets for either game can be purchased on GoRiverHawksGo.com/Tickets or view the game online on The MIAA Network at TheMIAANetwork.com/nsugoriverhawks.