TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State women's basketball wraps up the regular season with two away games in Missouri with Lincoln (Feb. 29) and Central Missouri (Mar. 2). 

With the team's spot in Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament secure, they will seek to build off of two wins at the NSU Event Center last week against Newman (58-51) and Central Oklahoma (73-57). 

The Setup
- Keith Ferguson in his first season leading the program after spending the previous seven at the NAIA level with Bethany College (Kan.).
- The RiverHawks are in their 12th season as members of the MIAA and 27th season as an NCAA Division II program.  
- This week's games place a bow on a 28-game regular season and 22-game MIAA slate.

Storylines
- NSU's victory against Newman clinched the RiverHawks a spot in the MIAA Tournament, their first berth in the conference's postseason since 2018. 
- The Saturday win over the Bronchos was their 12th at home, their most since the 2011-12 season, while it was their 14th overall, outdoing the total from the previous two seasons combined.
- A win in either game during the final week of the regular season would guarantee the team their first winning season since the 2012-13 campaign.
- Halie Jones was again a leading force in an NSU win over UCO, scoring 23 points in her final home game as a RiverHawk and contributing four steals to lead the team in the 16-point triumph.
- Tor'e Alford and Tess Talo Tomokino both produced in their last home games of their NSU careers, with Alford reaching double figures with ten points against the Bronchos, while Tess Talo Tomokino led the team with four assists and gathering six boards. 
- The duo of Courtney Lee and Grace Abercrombie attacked the glass last week, with Lee collecting 17 rebounds across last week's games against Newman and Central Oklahoma, while Grace Abercrombie finished the pair of contests with 16 combined, including ten to place with 12 points in the Thursday matchup with NU to finish with a double-double.
- Madina Camara will be a name to watch against Lincoln, as she pushed the pace on the Blue Tigers with nine first half points, while adding three steals, a season best. 
- Northeastern State will seek a stronger offensive display in their regular season finale against Central Missouri after the Jennies held them to 51 points on 35.2% (19/54) shooting on Jan. 18.

Northeastern State vs. Lincoln // Feb. 29 at 5:30 p.m. // Live Coverage

About Lincoln (6-20, 2-18 MIAA) 
- Lincoln's 11-game losing skid played a leading role in the Blue Tigers having their postseason hopes dissipate in recent weeks. Their last win was against Washburn on Jan. 13. 
- Amy Briggs is in her first season as the head women's basketball coach at NU. Most recently, she spent three seasons as an assistant on the Truman State staff, where she was the team's associate head coach for the 2022-23 season. 
- One of the conference's lower-scoring offenses at just 62.5 PPG, the duo of Ashlyn Alloway (15.0 PPG) and Steph Torres (11.5) serves as the highlights of the group. 
- Opposing defenses have feasted on the Blue Tigers in recent weeks, with LU giving up at least 70 points in eight of their last nine, while allowing 84+ in three games during the stretch.

Last Time They Met
Northeastern State 67, Lincoln 54 | Jan. 20, 2024 | Tahlequah, Okla.
- After the Blue Tigers won the opening stanza (22-15), they were silenced to just 9-of-40 (22.5%) shooting the final three quarters. 
- Courtney Lee led NSU with 17 points. 
- Halie Jones added 15, while four more scored eight or more.

Series Notes
- Northeastern holds a one-game lead in the series at 8-7.
- Lincoln enters the winner of two of the last three.  
- Thursday's the final MIAA meeting between the teams, with Lincoln bound for the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) after the season's end. 

Northeastern State at Central Missouri // Mar. 2 at 1 p.m. // Live Coverage

About Central Missouri (19-7, 13-7 MIAA)
- The Jennies will play Rogers State before hosting the RiverHawks this weekend. 
- Dave Slifer is in his 20th season leading the Jennies and has won more than 400 games as the head women's basketball coach at UCM. He's led the Jennies to 12 NCAA postseason appearances, highlighted by a national championship in the 2017-18 season. Slifer's career includes head coaching stints at Missouri Western (1995-2004) and Mount Mercy (1989-1995). 
- UCM has won four of their last five, including a top-25 win over then-#24 Missouri Southern on Feb. 10. 
- Brooke Littrell (19.4 PPG) is primed to be the conference's scoring champion and will seek to replicate an 18-point effort against NSU from Jan. 18. 

Last Time They Met
Central Missouri 65, Northeastern State 51 | Jan. 10, 2024 | Tahlequah, Okla.
- The Jennies won all four quarters and the RiverHawks failed to muster a major challenge at the end amid shooting woes from the floor (35.2%) and from outside (16.7%). 
- The duo of Courtney Lee (17 points) and Tor'e Alford (16 points) combined for over half of the hosting team's scoring in the loss. 
- Much of the offensive production was located inside the starting fives, with only 19 points off the bench across both teams the matchup, including just seven from NSU's non-starters.

Series Notes
- The lead is held by Central Missouri, as the Jennies have claimed every meeting in the series. 
- Only two matchups have been decided by single digits, while the last five have seen the Jennies win by at least 14 points. 
- The RiverHawks have only exceeded 65 points a single time, scoring 73 in their second game against the Jennies on Dec. 21, 2013. 

Coming Up
Northeastern State is playing postseason basketball for the first time since 2018 when they take the court at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. on Wednesday, Mar. 6 in the MIAA Tournament.