by TAHLEQUAH – Northeastern State led coast-to-coast and rolled past Rogers State 79-66 on Wednesday evening in their home opener.
The RiverHawks spread the wealth with four players in double figures and were led by Destiny Strange who had a career night with 19 points. Miranda Griffin and Cenia Hayes (Cherokee Nation) both had 14 points, with Lauryn Blevins adding 13 off the bench.
“I thought we had a great start,” said head coach Fala Bullock. “It was totally team ball, everybody getting shots and playing inside and out. I think there was a focus that was there with us. We were very sharp defensively.”
Northeastern State opened up with 17 unanswered points from the opening tip and held the Hillcats scoreless for the first eight minutes. Rogers State would go 1-for-15 from the field in the first quarter with the RiverHawks leading 19-5.
In the second half, the RiverHawks led as many as 26 points before the Hillcats closed the gap in the final in the final five minutes of the contest.
Alexis Hill and Strange led the RiverHawks with six rebounds and as a team they out-rebounded the Hillcats 43-to-34. From the field NSU shot 52.6-percent (30-57) and were 43.8-percent (7-16) from the arc. Rogers State (2-1) shot 35.7-percent (25-70) on their side of the floor and were led by Lauren Schuldt who had a game high 22 points.
“(It was so exciting) to see the RiverHawks put 79 points on the board,” Bullock added. “We still have kinks we’ve got to work out, but it was nice to see multiple girls scoring in double figures. We’re getting a lot of good action from a lot of different positions. To have it early and to have it at home, it’s really nice.”
The RiverHawks (2-1) will be off until next Wednesday where they will host Southern Arkansas for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
