From NEO Sports
Monty Franks
MIAMI — With six players scoring in double figures, the No. 10 ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Lady Norse closed out the home portion of the fall semester Thursday with a 94-72 victory over Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa in the NEO Field House.
All five Lady Norse starters reached double digits in scoring along with veteran shooting guard Jennah Coffman. Maria Delgado led the NEO scoring barrage with 27 total points while shooting guard Mariah Green contributed 18 points.
“I thought we came out on fire, but we got into some foul trouble that kind of took the edge off,” Lady Norse head coach Jim Rowland said. “Then, I thought our bench didn’t play as well as I wanted them to which allowed Tonkawa to get hot in the second quarter.”
While winning 41 of the past 42 home games in the last five years, the Lady Norse currently sit atop the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 2-0 record.
NEO carries a 9-1 overall record to Neosho, Missouri, Friday and Saturday to compete in the Crowder College Roughrider Classic. The Lady Norse face host Crowder College (2-8) at 7 p.m. Friday before battling the Lady Cardinals of Mineral Area College from Park Hills, Missouri at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Cards are 5-3 on the year.
Winners of eight straight games, the Lady Norse traded baskets with the Lady Mavericks (8-4 and 1-2) before consecutive layups by Delgado, Green and Hatty Newezhi created a 29-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.
With four of the five starters burdened with two fouls each early in the second quarter, Rowland went to his bench for relief. Sophomore Jennah Coffman along with freshmen Lauryn Washington and Paige Miller provided several minutes off the bench.
Led by six points each from Laramie Edens, Whitney Metker, Hannah Nealis and Kaitlyn Hodgins, the Lady Mavericks rallied with 27 points in the second quarter to trail 49-48 at intermission.
“For the most part in the first two quarters for us, having the bench not playing too well, that really described the first half,” Rowland said. “We finally wore them down physically in the third quarter and they had a tough time closing out the game.”
“That’s our game,” Rowland said. “If you want to run with us, then we’re going to run with you.
“Tonkawa started to get tired late in the third quarter and our depth started wearing them down,” Rowland said. “I thought we did a great job of attacking the basket and pounding the ball inside.”
NEO outscored NOC-Tonkawa by a 22-14 margin in the third quarter to construct a 71-62 margin heading into the final 10 minutes.
“That’s where this team is different from last year in the fact that we attack the rim and either take the shot or dish the ball off to an open teammate,” Rowland said. “We really try to get to the rim.”
During the fourth quarter the Lady Norse outscored the Lady Mavericks by a 23-10 advantage.
Along with the scoring barrage by Delgado and Green, the Lady Norse received 12 points from Nawezhi, Coffman 10, Sara Boric 10, Kamry Orr 10, Miller 2, Washington 2, Katarzyna Olczak 2 and Mikayla Shulanberger 1.
NEO outscored NOC-Tonkawa by a 52-30 margin inside the paint.
Edens paced the lady Mavericks with 17 total points while Metker contributed 12, Nealis 10, Hodgins 10, Grace Brzozowski 9, Jaclyn Smith 6, Sydney Ellis 4 and Ebone Green 4.