by FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Northeastern State nearly gave Arkansas more than they could handle on Thursday evening and kept the contest inside of one possession until the final minutes but ultimately fell 82-74 inside Bud Walton Arena.
Fatigue was a factor for the RiverHawks who were playing their first contest under head coach Fala Bullock and the Razorbacks shot 12-for-21 in the final ten minutes to pull away from NSU at the end of the night.
“They (Arkansas) were in better shape than us we really died out in the fourth quarter in general,” said Bullock. “I thought in general we kept trying to fight for it but I thought our fatigue really showed.”
“We played a pretty good game as far as taking care of the ball until that fourth quarter when we got tired…there were somethings that we could have done to contain the ball better. We had to pick our poison, if we wanted to guard the drive or contest the shot.”
Northeastern State rallied early from a 12-0 run by the Razorbacks in the first quarter with and hammered down six treys in the second period and led the SEC program 38-35 at the half. Miranda Griffin had three shots from downtown with Northeastern State out-shooting the Razorbacks from the field.
In the second half, the RiverHawks continued to not back down on Arkansas and led as many as five points. However, as the period drew to a close, Arkansas went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead with 1:24 left on the clock. Cenia Hayes banked the three on the following possession to tie the contest for the sixth time at 51 each. Northeastern State forced a turnover on a steal by Bailee Eldred but a three-point attempt by Griffin missed and Arkanas took a 53-51 lead out of the period on a layup.
Arkansas had the hotter hand in the final ten minutes with Devin Cosper, the Razorbacks lone senior going off for 16 points. Northeastern State tried to stay in the contest and tied the game at 64 with 5:31 left in regulation but the Razorbacks would go on a 10-3 run with Copser scoring all of their points to spoil NSU’s night.
Northeastern State spread the wealth around with ten players getting points against the Razorbacks. Griffin finished the night with a team high 17 points, Lauryn Blevins had 11 points, seven boards, and three blocks. Cailyn Long had nine points and seven rebounds, Hayes would finish with eight points and 5 rebounds.
Shooting wise, Arkansas had a slight edge going 28-for-78 from the field (37.8-percent), Northeastern State was 24-for-68. In the battle of the glass, the RiverHawks were even with the Razorbacks at 46.
“This was a great opportunity to get the measuring stick out and figure out what we need to do better,” Bullock added. “A lot of good things were happening for us tonight, I thought we shot well from outside, it was great to see some of our seniors step up.”
“It was good to get out and play someone else as a tool to figure out what we need to work on.”
The RiverHawks will return to action Friday, Nov. 10 to face Northwestern Oklahoma in Durant, Okla.
