RiverHawks Lose Heartbreaker to UCO
EDMOND, Okla. - Northeastern State ‘s bid to remain unbeaten in the Lone Star Conference North Division came to an end Monday night at Hamilton Field House as the RiverHawks lost a heartbreaker to Central Oklahoma 77-74.
The RiverHawks fall to 16-5 overall and 5-1 in the LSC North Division while Central Oklahoma goes to 14-4 and 5-1 in the division to tie the RiverHawks for the LSC North lead. The loss snapped a 6-game Northeastern State winning streak. The RiverHawks had won 13 of their last 15 games.
The RiverHawks and Bronchos were deadlocked at 74-all with 1:58 remaining in the game. Central Oklahoma's Cristina Yarbrough then scored on a 10-foot jumper to give the Bronchos a 76-74 lead with 30 seconds remaining.
UCO using a pressing defense forced a critical tie-ball call between NSU's Jessica White and UCO's Savannah Hamilton which resulted a possession arrow going to the Bronchos with 14 seconds remaining.
UCO's Cristina Yarbrough was then fouled by the RiverHawks' Megan Fraley and she connected on 1-of-2 free throws giving UCO a 77-74 advantage with 13 seconds left.
The RiverHawks missed two 3-point attempts, one each by Sarah Millar and Taylor Lewis in the final 9 seconds as UCO upset the RiverHawks.
Northeastern State committed 26 turnovers, topping the previous mark of 22 established against Tarleton State earlier in the year. The Bronchos took advantage of the miscues scoring 28 points on Northeastern State mistakes.
"We just weren't very alert on what was going on the floor tonight," said Northeastern State head coach Randy Gipson. "We had people pressuring us and we looked like we didn't notice the pressure. We were just careless with the ball. And, we just didn't run our offensive schemes the way we wanted too.
"We just weren't a very alert team tonight. But we had a lot of people make some plays offensively. That kept us in there. We made some shots, but the key moments when we had the lead and could have extended it we just didn't do it. We made some silly turnovers," said Gipson.
The RiverHawks held a huge advantage on the boards, out-rebounding the Bronchos 47-22 including a 14-7 margin on the offensive boards.
Jasmine Wright led NSU's scoring with 15 points, a season high for the sophomore, as the RiverHawks shot 47 percent from the floor (27-of-47). Jasmine Webb scored 13 points and pulled down 9 rebounds just missing a double-double. Cristy Nitz followed with 11 and Jessica White 10.
Jordan Stark led the UCO scoring with 19 points followed by Ashley Beckley and Yarbrough with 15 points each as UCO shot 41 percent from the floor (24-of-58).
Central State grabbed a 35-33 lead at the half when Yarbrough drained a 3-point shot from the right wing.
Turnovers hurt the RiverHawks the first 20 minutes of play as NSU committed 16 miscues which resulted in 13 Central Oklahoma points. Despite the turnovers the RiverHawks led most of the first half on their red-hot shooting from the floor. Northeastern State shot 51 percent (14-of-27) which included 3-of-9 from behind the arc.
The RiverHawks held its largest lead of the half six points 8-2 at 17:16 and UCO led by 4 with 14:17 left and from there it was a back-and-forth battle with the scored tied three times and 7 lead exchanges before the Bonchos took the first half lead on Yarbrough's trey.
The RiverHawks held a commanding rebounding edge 24-7 along with its defensive pressure to limit the UCO offensive attack. The Bronchos shot 40 percent from the floor (12-of-30) which included 6-of-11 from behind the 3-point line.
UCO's Beckely and Allen led the UCO scoring with 9 points each in the first half with Jessica White leading the NSU scoring the first 20 minutes with 7 points.
Northeastern State returns to LSC North Division action Wednesday night at Jack Dobbins Field House when Texas A&M-Commerce comes calling. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
