by KEARNEY, Neb. – Cenia Hayes (Cherokee Nation) tied her career-high in points with 27 on Thursday night, but Nebraska-Kearney pulled away in the fourth quarter to stave off the upset.
Hayes led all scorers while pulling eight rebounds. Shae Sanchez scored 17 points and had seven rebounds. Zaria Collins scored in double digits for the third straight game, finishing with 10 points.
The RiverHawks took their first lead of the game with 1:25 remaining in the first quarter when Sanchez fed Britney Ho, who hit the layup to put NSU up 14-13. The Lopers would score five straight points to end the quarter with an 18-14 lead.
In the second quarter, the Lopers built an eight-point lead with 3:07 left, but NSU started cutting into it, as Hayes hit a layup to make it 31-25. After grabbing a defensive rebound, Hayes took a pass from Maegan Lee and buried a three to make it a four-point Lopers lead. After Nebraska-Kearney made a free throw, Hayes buried another three to bring Northeastern State to within one point. The Lopers hit a jumper with 50 seconds left, but Sanchez responded with a jumper of her own to send the game into the half with NSU trailing by just two points.
NSU continued to keep things close in the third, as Hayes drilled a deep trey early on to keep them within two. After the Lopers hit a three of their own, Zaria Collins took a pass from Hayes and hit a jumper. After UNK went on an 8-2 run, Collins pulled an offensive rebound and hit the layup to bring NSU to within seven points. Sanchez hit a pair of free throws with 5:16 left, then a minute later, she took a pass from Hayes and buried a trey of her own to make it a 50-46 Lopers lead. They would end the quarter on a 12-7 run to take a 62-53 lead.
In the final frame, the RiverHawks were outscored 20-11, shooting just 33.3% from the field. Tree Brooks kicked off the quarter with a short jumper, which Hayes followed by hitting a layup to bring Northeastern State to within seven. The Lopers would end the game on an 8-2 run to end the game, with Hayes hitting a layup in the closing seconds.
