Fresh off an MIAA opening win at home over Washburn, the RiverHawks will hit the road for the second time this season and will travel to Hays, Kansas, for the tenth time Thursday evening.
The RiverHawks are seeking their first win at Fort Hays State and will enter its conference play with a 4-3 overall mark. The Tigers entered the preseason ranked in the top ten in both the Coaches and Media poll but have suffered a pair of setbacks against other ranked teams. Fort Hays State is 2-1 at home this season and is 549-134 inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Northeastern State is 4-1 and 1-0 in the MIAA, earning a 60-53 win over Washburn on Monday evening. The start for the RiverHawks is its best since the 2011-12 season, a year where they finished 25-6 overall. Courtney Lee has averaged nearly a double-double in five games this year with 16.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. The sophomore is 12th nationally, shooting 62 percent from the field. Ashton Hackler leads the team in scoring 18.4 points per game and has six consecutive games in double figures. Jaylee Kindred is coming off a career-best 16-point performance Monday with three blocks and three steals.
NSU has stuck with its same five starters through the first five games.
For the Tigers, Katie Wagner has four double-doubles averaging 12.1 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game. The sophomore is tied among MIAA players in rebounds. Fort Hays State is 12th in the MIAA, averaging 61.6 points per game, and sixth defensively, allowing 56.
Fort Hays State leads the overall series 18-4, with teams splitting the home-and-home meetings a year ago.
Tip-off Thursday is slated for 5:30 p.m. fans can watch the game online on The MIAA Network at TheMIAANetwork.com/nsugoriverhawks.
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