by By Ronan Khalsa, NSU communications
TAHLEQUAH — Northeastern State (5-12 in MIAA) women’s basketball defended its home court Tuesday afternoon to down Washburn (7-9 in MIAA) 47-44 in a low scoring affair. It was the lowest output for an NSU opponent since Jan. 21, 2017, and holding the Ichabods to just 16 makes was the lowest in the head coach Fala Bullock era.
The RiverHawks were led by Cenia Hayes (Cherokee) with 17 points and eight rebounds. She was the lone NSU player with double-digit scoring. Zaria Collins put in nine points and pulled down 12 rebounds while the starting group combined for 43 points.
“It was a big defensive effort from our ladies and we got some baskets to go,” Bullock said. “We grabbed a couple offensive rebounds in that fourth quarter and they were big ones that we could score on to close the gap. The ladies did a great job defending and boxing out, rebounding those last five, six possessions of the game was huge.”
In the first quarter, the RiverHawks held the Ichabods to 3-17 shooting but were stuck on five points themselves for 3:10 in the stanza. Senior Shae Sanchez gave NSU its first lead, 9-8, with five seconds remaining on a drive to the basket. It was the lowest offensive output in a quarter this season.
NSU scored the first four points of the second quarter on back-to-back layups by sophomore Britney Ho and junior Morgan Lee. The Ichabods, however, responded with an 8-2 run themselves to grab the one-point lead with 6:00 until halftime. The game remained a back-and-force battle with two ties until the Ichabods made two jumpers to take a 24-20 halftime advantage.
Hunter Bentley, who led the Ichabods with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, knocked down a 3-pointer to open the scoring in the third, but NSU senior Cenia Hayes was quick to respond with one of her own stifling the 7-0 run. She was limited to five minutes in the first half and scored 15 of her team-high 17 after the halftime break. Washburn and Northeastern State traded makes throughout the quarter yet the RiverHawks could not overtake the Ichabods and trailed 38-33 entering the final stanza. Momentum was on NSUs side though as sophomore Zaria Collins had a steal leading to Hayes reaching the free throw line after cleaning up a Collins miss in the paint.
Washburn mustered just six points the final 10 minutes while NSU shot 5-10 from the floor and the senior duo combined for two dagger 3-pointers. The first came from Sanchez on a deep 3-pointer from the right wing with 7:12 remaining. The very next RiverHawk make came from nearly the same spot by Hayes off a Sanchez inbound pass. Hayes wasn’t done, as she drove to the paint for the next RiverHawk score and got a friendly roll off the rim. The RiverHawks took the lead for good, the first in nearly 24 minutes, when Collins cleaned up and laid in, a Morgan Lee miss faking out two Ichabod defenders with multiple pump fakes.
“Offensively we just were taking our time and when we saw that we were ahead we tried not to rush,” Hayes said. “Defensively we just locked in.”
he Ichabods got within one with 47 seconds remaining and had an opportunity to retake the lead with 11 ticks remaining, but Bentley, who was 93 percent at the line, missed both of her free throw attempts. NSU’s Hayes, the fourth-best in the MIAA, tossed in her two attempts to give Northeastern State a three-point advantage. The senior then blocked an Ichabod 3-point try and, although Washburn, got the offensive board with 0.4 of a second, NSU defended the desperation trey attempt.
The Ichabods shoot poorly in the first and fourth quarters and the RiverHawks contained Nuria Barrientos who averages a double-double this season.
