RiverHawks Rally for Win
TAHLEQUAH, OKLA. --- Northeastern State rallied from a 9-point half time deficit to defeat Drury University 53-49 in a non-conference clash Saturday at Jack Dobbins Field House.
The RiverHawks, in winning their second consecutive game, improved to 8-3 for the year. Drury is now 7-3. The Northeastern State win avenged a 75-65 loss to the Panthers a year ago in Springfield, Mo. It was only the second win against the Panthers in the 9-game series.
Northeastern State's defense held the Panthers to 22 percent shooting (5-of-22) and just 14 second half points. The Panthers managed just four points in the opening 12 minutes of the second half.
"This was a great win," said head coach Randy Gipson. "They (Drury) came in here with a great plan, made shots and I thought our kids were just holding on most to the first half. But we persevered and were able to have a really good second half defensively.
"We moved the ball quicker and tightened up the defense in the second half," said Gipson.
The Riverhawks, who shot 46 percent from the field (20-of-43), including 7-of-18 on treys, was led in scoring by Alex Perkins with 12 points and Jessica White with 11. Jasmine Webb, who converted some keys baskets in the final four minutes, finished with eight points.
White scored eight of the RiverHawks first 11 points in the final stanza to tie the ball game at 37-all with 14:10 remaining. White drained two 3-point shots, drove the lane for another around a trey by Cristy Nitz, who finished with seven points, to get the deadlock.
Three minutes later White scored on a baseline drive giving Northeastern State only its second lead of the physical contest 39-37 with 11:02 remaining.
Northeastern State increased its lead to four points on a Sarah Millar basket. However, the Panthers caught fire to take a three-point advantage 45-42 with 7:14 left. That's when the RiverHawks' defense put a stop to the Panthers' scoring.
Webb scored the first of three baskets over the next two minutes to give NSU a 48-46 advantage with 2:21 left, a lead the RiverHawks would never relinquish.
"We came out of a timeout and decided we were really going to try and look for her (Webb)," said Gipson. "She came through for us big time."
Concerning her late shooting success Webb said "I stepped up my intensity level. I just kind'a stepped it up. This is a very big win for us. I can't remember the last time we beat Drury. This was a great win."
Drury's scoring was led by Katie Pritchard and Ja'Neill Jones with 11 points each.
"I thought Alix (Perkins) did a great job on Jones in the second half," said Gipson. " That was a huge key in the game. She was hurting us so bad with penetration the first half, Alix played her the second half and did a really nice job."
"Coach tells us defense all the time and I wanted to win this one," said Perkins. "It was my job to stop 23 (Jones) from driving. It was tough," said Perkins.
Drury jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead to begin the game as the RiverHawks missed its first three shots of the game.
The Panthers, who shot 65 percent in the first half (13-20) held its largest lead of the opening 20 minutes, an 11-point advantage, 33-22 with 1:35 remining in the half when Pritchard, drained a 3-point shot from the right wing.
Northeastern State shot only 39 percent in the half and held the lead just one time 9-8 with 14:49 showing on the clock when Perkins converted two free throws. The Panthers quickly regained the lead on a shot by Erica Groose inside the paint. It was a lead the Panthers would not relinquished the remainder of the half.
The RiverHawks will be idle until after semester exams. They will finish out the 2009 portion of their schedule on the road with LSC crossover games at Angelo State on Dec. 19 and at Abilene Christian on Dec. 21.
