Game #18

Northeastern State Riverhawks (4-11, 2-6) at Newman Jets (8-9, 3-5 MIAA)
Saturday, Jan. 18th • 1:30 P.M. Wichita, Kan. • Fugate Gymnasium
Series Record: NSU leads series 2-0 Last Meeting: Dec. 5, 2019 NU 60, vs NSU 66 in Tahlequah, Okla.
Internet Audio: Newmanjets.com/listen Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/newman
Up Next: #15 Emporia State • Wednesday Jan. 22 • 5:30 P.M. • Emporia, Kan.

LAST TIME OUT
On Wednesday night, the Newman Jets hosted the Rogers State Hillcats in an MIAA Conference matchup inside Fugate Gymnasium. Newman led from the opening tip to the final buzzer in this one as they would defeat the Hillcats 76-64.  Newman would dominate the first half outscoring Rogers State 42-25, thanks to their outside shooting. The Jets went 7-14 from 3 point range in the first half. The Jets bench came up big in this game outscoring the Hillcats 61-28.  In the fourth quarter, the Jets would get their largest lead of the game at 23 points two different times with baskets by Faith Mason-Vestal with 9:04 left and 7:58 left. Later in the quarter, the Hillcats would cut the deficit to single digits with 2:16 left, 65-59. The Jets would be able to put the game away late, outscoring the Hillcats 11-5 in the final two minutes to secure the 76-64 victory.

THE COACHES
Darin Spence is in his eighth season as the Jets head coach, leading the Jets to a 8-9 record so far in the 2019-20 season. Spence has compiled a 568-310 record as a head women's basketball coach over a 28-year span across NCAA Division I and Division II, NAIA, and NJCAA schools. His seven years with the Jets have seen him amass a record of 113-96 overall and a 59-53 mark in Heartland Conference play. Under Spence's tenure, the Jets reached the Heartland Conference tournament in six of his seven seasons. Before coming to Newman, Spence spent one season at Barton Community College and eight seasons at Division I New Mexico State.

Fala Bullock is in her third season at the helm for Northeastern State. With seven years of head coaching experience Bullock is 116-119. Before being named the head coach of the Riverhawks, she was the head coach at Armstrong State University.

ABOUT THE JETS
Newman is 8-9 on the season, 3-5 in their first season in the MIAA. Newman has one player averaging double digits this season, Kaitlyn Potter at 17.8 points per game.  Abbey George leads the Jets in rebounding at 4.2 rebounds per game. 

ABOUT THE RIVERHAWKS
Northeastern State is 4-11 on the season, 2-6 in the MIAA. The Riverhawks are led by Junior guard Cenia Hayes at 14.7 points per game.  Hayes also leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the third meeting between these schools with Northeastern State leading the series 2-0 with the latest matchup being Dec. 5, 2019 in Tahlequah, Okla. Where Northeastern State knocked off the Jets 66-60.

LAST TIME VS NORTHEASTERN STATE
The Newman Jets dropped their MIAA opener against Northeastern State 66-60. The Jets had a five point lead with a little over 3 minutes left to play. NSU went on a 14-3 run to close out the Jets and secure a six point victory over the Jets. The Jets trailed from the jump as the first quarter was full of ups and downs for both teams with Northeastern State taking a 9-6 lead into the first break. Both offenses would improve in the trailing quarters as the Riverhawks would out score the Jets in the second quarter by two to take a four point lead into the half, 24-20. Despite Northeastern State building up a nine point lead early in the third, Newman fought back to take their first lead of the game as Faith Mason-Vestal would make a layup with just under 5 minutes to play in the quarter. Northeastern would answer right back and build up a 7 point lead heading into the final period of play.  The Jets took their first lead of the fourth quarter at 6:35 mark as two Amoni White free throws gave them a 49-47 lead. Earlier in the quarter, Kaitlyn Potter hit back to back threes to cut into a seven point Riverhawks lead giving Newman chance to tie the game or take the lead. After a NSU free throw made took the lead back to two with just over seven and a half minutes to play, Michaela Mack would make a jumper to spark a 10-3 run over the next four minutes for the Jets.

UP NEXT
The Jets will travel to Emporia, Kan. to take on #15 Emporia State University for another MIAA conference matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 22^nd , 2020 starting at 5:30 P.M.

LISTEN, WATCH & FOLLOW LIVE
Video streams for all of Newman's regular season contests are available on a pay per view basis on the MIAA Network. Events are available live and are immediately archived for on-demand viewing at the conclusion of the event at www.themiaanetwork.com/newman and on the MIAA Network apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. Listen along to all of the Newman Jets games on The Jets Audio Network with Blake Cripps on the call at newmanjets.com/listen. You can now find all things Newman in the Newman Jets Athletics app available in both the App Store and on Google Play. For all of your Newman Jets Athletics apparel needs visit nujetsgear.com!