by DURANT, Okla. – Northeastern State’s bench carried them to a season opening 82-75 win over Northwestern Oklahoma on Friday night behind stellar debuts from Lauryn Blevins and Cenia Hayes. (Cherokee Nation)
Blevins was a rebound short of a double-double in her first contest for the RiverHawks and she had 28 points off the bench. The redshirt-freshman impressed on the defensive side of the ball with five steals and three blocks. NSU has not had a player with five steals since Kate Bellamy had that same number on Feb. 12, 2015 at Emporia State.
Even more impressive was that Blevins connected on eight straight shots from the field and had 18 of her points in the second half.
Hayes a true freshman, was the back-half of the NSU duo with 21 points against the Rangers. In the final ten minutes she knocked down three shots from downtown, with 11 points to rally past Northwestern Oklahoma (0-1) who led as many as ten points in the third period.
The RiverHawks didn’t catch fire until the fourth quarter where they shot 10-for-14. Trailing 59-52 at the start of the period, Hayes scored eight of the RiverHawks nine points in a 9-2 run that tied them with the Rangers at 61 with 7:31 left in the contest.
After trading buckets, Blevins broke a 64-64 tie on a layup with 5:45 left pull ahead of the Rangers for the final time on Friday evening.
Junior College transfer Bailee Eldred was NSU’s third player in double-figures with ten points, and she had eight boards. Tree Brooks dished out eight assists with six points, and Destiny Strange had nine points.
The rebounding battle was even at 37 each but it was the offensive glass that was difference maker for the RiverHawks with 16 boards. In second-chance points, NSU doubled the Rangers’ total with 18 points. NSU also forced 18 Ranger turnovers and held a one-sided advantage, 26-to-6.
From the field, the RiverHawks were 42-percent on 29-for-69 shooting, and trailed the Rangers who were 48.2-percent (27-56) on their side of the floor.
Friday’s win was the first Northeastern State coaching win for Fala Bullock who is an alumnus of the program and took over in April.
Northeastern State (1-0) will return to the floor on Saturday to face Southeastern Oklahoma at 5:30 p.m.
