by KEARNEY, Neb. – A late Herculean came up short for the RiverHawks in an 80-72 loss on Saturday afternoon at Nebraska-Kearney. Northeastern State trailed as many as 29 points in the second half and got within three of the Lopers in the final two minutes of the game.
Cenia Hayes (Cherokee Nation) put together a career afternoon with 24 points and had 17 rebounds for her first double-double. The sophomore went 10-for-10 at the free throw line and added six assists with two blocks.
Cailyn Long recorded her tenth career 20-point game with 21 against the Lopers on 9-for-17 shooting. Joi Bertrand had a career high 16 points and added three blocks for the RiverHawks.
All the trouble for the NSU happened in the second quarter where they went scoreless for the final 6:30 into the intermission. During the quarter, the RiverHawks went 2-for-14 from the field, and were limited to six points. The Lopers closed the half scoring 18 unanswered on Northeastern State to take a 45-22 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the RiverHawks trailed by 29 with 7:07 left on the clock before their rally started. Behind a point ten third quarter from Long, NSU finished the period on a 14-3 run on the Lopers to trim down their lead to 60-45.
Bertrand and Hayes carried the RiverHawks to the finish with 23 of the team’s 27 points in the final ten. Hayes would go off for 15 points with three made treys. A 23-5 RiverHawks’ run helped get them within two (68-66) with four minutes to go following a Hayes three pointer. The Lopers responded in the next possession with a made three and Long picked up her 21st point to counter with 2:16 left on the clock trailing 71-68.
Northeastern State could not close in further and tried to extend the game where UNK iced them at the free throw line to go to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in the MIAA.
The RiverHawks shot 44.3-percent (27-61) against the Lopers and out-rebounded them by one with 39. Saturday’s loss will send NSU to 3-12 overall and 0-6 in the MIAA.
