Hawks roll Concordia University JV on the road

SEWARD, Neb. – Backed by a dominating 31-point second quarter, the Northeast Community College women's basketball team picked up its second win of the season, topping Concordia University JV 82-76 on Monday night at the Walz Arena in Seward, Neb.

After securing a 28-point halftime lead, the Bulldogs managed to chip away, thanks to a 33-point performance in the fourth quarter. The Hawks defense held strong, forcing 24 turnovers to keep Concordia at bay.

Sophomore Lauren Hunstad (Parker, S.D.) led Hawks with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field with eight boards. Jade Blackburn (Surrey, England) chipped in 17 points, while Kori Fischer (South Sioux City, Neb.) had 16 points. Irene Sanz (Vilassar de Mar, Spain) rounded out the starting five with 12 points and six boards.

"We were a bit sluggish in the first quarter, but opened the game up with a 31-point second quarter to take a 48-30 lead at the half," head coach Matt Svehla said. "We had good ball movement and we knocked down shots. Concordia made a big run at us in the fourth quarter. We need to learn how to finish a game. We stopped defending and we stopped executing and they took advantage. This was our third game in four days and this was a good test for us."

As a team, the Hawks (2-1) shot 46 percent from the field, 40 percent from the beyond the arc and 70 percent from the charity stripe.

Northeast is back in action on Friday as they host the Hawks Classic, taking on Des Moines Area Community College at 6 p.m., before squaring off with Iowa Lakes Community College at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk.

For all news related to Northeast Community College athletics, visit northeasthawks.com for complete coverage. Fans can also follow the Hawks on Twitter @NortheastHawks for game-day coverage.