RiverHawks Romp Past Texas Woman's
DENTON, Texas --- Northeastern State had no problem with Texas Woman's University Wednesday night at Kitty Magee Arena as the Pioneers found the RiverHawks defense to tough to handle as NSU rolled to a 66-52 Lone Star Conference North Division victory.
Northeastern State held the Pioneers to 27 percent shooting from the field (14-of-52) as the RiverHawks improve to 21-5 and 10-1 in LSC North Division play to remain tied with Central Oklahoma in the North Division standings. The Bronchos defeated Texas A&M-Commerce 92-59 in Edmond on Wednesday.
Cristy Nitz and Jasmine Webb led the Northeastern State scoring with 14 and 13 points respectively as the RiverHawks shot 41 percent from the floor (23-of-56) and out rebounded the Pioneers 42-33, including 13 offensive boards. NSU was 12 of 15 at the free throw line.
Jessica Hanna and Jessica Durr paced the Pioneers scoring with 14 and 11 points each.
"We did a good job early on and we hit our shots," said Northeastern State head coach Randy Gipson."We played hard and showed a lot of energy. Our defense was pretty solid, but we got a little ragged at times but overall it was a very good defensive effort. This was a good solid win for us and I'm really pleased."
The win sets the stage for Saturday's showdown at Jack Dobbins Field House between the RiverHawks and UCO for first place in the LSC North Division standings. Tip-off is 2 p.m. and it will be Athletics Hall of Fame day and Pack the House Pink.
The loss drops the Pioneers to 12-11 and 6-5 in North Division play. The NSU victory avenged a loss at Kitty Magee Arena a year ago. The win also gave Northeastern State a sweep of the Pioneers this season. NSU won the first meeting at Dobbins Field House 75-67. NSU now leads the all-time series 9-5.
Gipson was impressed with the play of Nitz on Wednesday night, saying "She really got us going in the second half. We didn't have any lull there. I had a few concerns about that being on the road. But a lot of Cristy's offensive work was right at the beginning of the second half and it really kept them from getting a lot of hope of getting back into it," said. Gipson.
The Pioneers scored the first basket of the game at the 18:36 mark and quickly found themselves behind as the RiverHawks jumped out to a 16-3 lead with 13:04 left in the half. It was the Pioneers only lead of the game.
Texas Woman's went seven minutes without scoring as they could not crack the Northeastern State defense. The Pioneers finally got on the board at the 11:29 mark of the half when Jessica Hanna scored to make it 16-5.
The RiverHawks ended the half leading 32-20 as they held the Pioneers to just 22 percent from the field (6-of-27) while shooting 39 percent from the field on 12 of 31, including 5-of-16 from behind the arc.
Behind Nitz and Webb the RiverHawks stretched its intermission lead to 21 points twice, the first coming at 12:05 in the second half 51-30 when Sarah Miller drained a trey and the second at 11:40 on a 12-foot jumper by Nitz, giving NSU a 53-32 advantage.
The Pioneers came no closer than 14 points the remainder of the contest 61-47 with 2:00 left in the game.
NORTHEASTERN STATE 66, TEXAS WOMAN'S 52
Northeastern State 32 34 -66
Texas Woman's 20 32 - 52
Northeastern State (21-5, 10-1) -Cristy Nitz 14, Jasmine Webb 13, Megan Fraley 9, Taylor Lewis 6, Sarah Millar 6, Kendra Dean 5, Alix Perkins 5, Jasmine Wright 3, Jessica White 3, Sarah Green 2.
Texas Woman's (12-11, 6-5) -Jessica Hanna 14, Jessica Durr 11, Keshia Bolds 8, Megan Hashman7, Tiandrea Dixon 7, Kahyla Weaver 3, Diandra Marquez 2.
