RiverHawks Smash Cameron on Senior Night

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -  Northeastern State rolled over visiting Cameron University 71-42 behind four players who scored in double figures before a full house on Senior Night at Jack Dobbins Field House Wednesday night in a Lone Star Conference North Division clash.

The victory gave the RiverHawks the top seed in the LSC Tournament at Bartlesville next week. Northeastern State is now 23-5 for the year and 12-1 in North Division play. Cameron falls to 8-18 and 4-9.

Megan Fraley, the LSC North Division Player of the Week, continued her shooting assault, leading the RiverHawks in scoring with 15 points, draining 5-of-7 shots from behind the arc. Taylor Lewis followed with 12 points with Jasmine Webb, collecting her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jessica White also scored in double-digits with 10 points

"Once again we shot the ball real well the first half, especially the 3-point shooting, that got us jump started," said Northeastern State head coach Randy Gipson. "Defensively after the first five minutes I thought we settled-in with their cuts better. We just played a solid game, defensively.

"Rebounding I was very pleased. Jasmine (Webb) is really going after the ball. I really like the rebounding she is doing. Here in these last several games and she is efficient on offense.

"I see again we had good balance in scoring. That's going to be a big key for us as we move toward postseason as we keep a lot of people involved in the offense," said Gipson.

The RiverHawks, who shot 43 percent (25-of-58), including 13-of-34 from behind the arc was never threatened by the Aggies. The RiverHawks cruised to a 43-21 lead at the half and held its largest lead of the game 31 points, 71-40 with 2:09 left in the game.

Once again it was the RiverHawks defense that turned back the Aggies limiting Cameron to 35 percent from the floor (17-of-48) and forcing 19 Cameron turnovers, which resulted in 24 Northeastern State points. Josie Stewart led Cameron's scoring with 19 points.

It was the final game at Dobbins Field House for White and Sarah Millar, both of whom have played four seasons for the RiverHawks.

"Those two seniors are just great examples of what you want your own kids to be like, said Gipson. "They are just model people that work hard every day.

" They lead by example and can be vocal at times. I think that's meant a lot to this team because of being such a young team. They deserve a lot of credit for the development of our young players.

"They've been a great influence."