TAHLEQUAH -- Northeastern State returns to the MIAA postseason in their first appearance since 2018 when they battle ninth-seed Emporia State Wednesday at 12 p.m.

As the tournament's eighth seed, they will look to rebound after taking a pair of losses last week at Lincoln and Central Missouri. 

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.  
- The winner of Wednesday's midday battle will face the tournament's top seed, Missouri Western, on Thursday at 12 p.m.

Storylines
- If Northeastern State wins their opening round clash with Emporia State, they will have secured their first MIAA Tournament win since Mar. 3, 2015, when the RiverHawks defeated Washburn (59-46).
- The RiverHawks enter the postseason off of their best season in a decade, where they had their most wins (14) since the 2012-13 season and their most home victories (12) since 2011-12. 
- Halie Jones continued to be an impact player on offense last week, with two performances in double figures, including a 23-point effort against Central Missouri on Saturday. 
- Grace Abercrombie was the team's top scorer from the second unit last week, scoring 18 points and adding eight rebounds across last week's games. 
- Courtney Lee goes to the MIAA Tournament after a stellar run in the regular season where she was the team's second-leading scorer (10.9 PPG) and took the team title in rebounding (6.1 RPG). 
- Tor'e Alford enters the MIAA Tournament off of a performance in double figures last Saturday against UCM after scoring 12 against the Jennies. 
- The second quarter was woeful for the RiverHawks last week, as they were limited to just 17 points across both second quarters in games against LU and UCM. 
- The RiverHawks will aim to take their third win away from Tahlequah when they draw the Lady Hornets in Kansas City, Mo. 

Northeastern State vs. Emporia State // Mar. 6 at 12:00 p.m. // Live Coverage

About Emporia State (13-15, 10-12 MIAA)
- The Lady Hornets enter the week with two consecutive losses to finish the regular season, including a one-point overtime setback against Washburn (59-58) last Saturday in Topeka, Kan. 
- ESU has only won three times away from the White Auditorium on the campaign. 
- Brian Ostermann is in his first season leading the program. Ostermann is in his 35th season as a collegiate coach after spending the previous nine as the associate head coach at Kansas State. While this is his first campaign as a head women's basketball coach at the collegiate level, Ostermann had previous head coaching stints leading men's basketball at the junior college level with Missouri State-West Plains (2004-08) and Colby CC (1999-2004). 
- Faith Paramore (14.6 PPG, 8.5 RPG) leads the team in scoring and rebounding, while Gracie Gilpin (10.5 PPG, 31 steals) holds the team lead in steals and Queen Ulabo (9.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG) is another solid scoring-rebounding option in the starting five.

Last Time They Met
Northeastern State 81, Emporia State 61 | Feb. 1, 2024 | Tahlequah, Okla. 
- The RiverHawks claimed a dominant win off of a 53.4% clip from the floor.
- NSU was true on 15 three-point attempts, their most against an NCAA opponent this season.
- Five players reached double figures, led by Grace Abercrombie's 20 points.

Series Notes
- ESU leads 23-6 in the series entering Wednesday.
- February's triumph over the Lady Hornets snapped a 12-game losing streak to ESU.
- The Lady Hornets handed the RiverHawks a loss in NSU's last MIAA Tournament game on Feb. 26, 2018 (72-62). 

Coming Up
If Northeastern State wins Wednesday, they will face the top-seeded Missouri Western Griffons on Thursday at 12:00 p.m.