FALLIS SCORES 19 AS NORTHEAST DROPS SEASON OPENER TO NJC

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College women's basketball team began their 2023-24 season Friday night at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk against Northeastern Junior College. The Hawks fell by a final score of 67-48 and will now look ahead to a matchup Tuesday with Southeast Community College.

Northeast (0-1) placed two freshmen in the starting lineup as Clara Garrote (Salamanca, Spain) and Rylyn Cast (York, Neb.) hit the floor as starters in their Hawks debut. Northeast had 15 bench points in the showdown compared to 13 from the Plainswomen, but free-throw shooting plagued the Hawks as they shot just 50-percent from the charity stripe.

Stevi Fallis (Pine Ridge, S.D.) started her sophomore campaign picking right back up where she left off last season as she recorded 19 points and five rebounds. Tori Osten (Columbus, Neb.) added eight points in her first contest at Northeast.

STAT SHEET:

Stevi Fallis (Pine Ridge, S.D.): 19 PTS, 5 REB

Tori Osten (Columbus, Neb.): 8 PTS, 4 REB

Sharissa Haas (Pine Ridge, S.D.): 6 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Women's Basketball Coach Matt Svehla's thoughts on the season opener:

"Not the way we want to start a season," Svehla said. "I thought some things happened that are not conducive to winning. One was giving up 25 offensive rebounds. We had 23 turnovers. Our shooting percentages were low. Defensively, their numbers weren't off the charts. It wasn't like they shot lights out and beat us. It was on the offensive boards and too many turnovers. I thought our execution was not very good. It is a learning thing. There is only one way to go from this and that's up. We just have to get better."

Svehla on what his team will work on before their matchup with Southeast:

"Our execution has to get better," Svehla said. "We will try and clean our execution up a little bit. Work on communication defensively. We'll watch some tape and hopefully our team will see some things where they can do better, and we can grow from it. It's early in the year, and it's not the start you want, but we'll go back to the grindstone."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will stay home for their second game of the year and will host Southeast Community College at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk.

HAWKS HAPPENINGS:

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