HAWKS TAKE OVERTIME THRILLER SATURDAY AT HOME OVER NO. 3 EAGLES

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College women's basketball team returned home to the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk Saturday afternoon for a conference clash against No. 3 Kirkwood Community College. The Hawks took the contest by a final score of 78-70 in overtime to hand the Eagles their first ICCAC loss in over two years.

Northeast (11-4, 6-3 ICCAC) knew the challenge that would come with facing a program who has nine national titles to its name, but the Hawks were up to the challenge as Aaliyah Jones (Rapid City, S.D.) and Lexi Wiebelhaus (Crofton, Neb.) both led Northeast in scoring with 17 points. The Eagles were ahead by as many as 11 late in the third quarter, but a late rally from the Hawks gave them the lead in the final seconds of regulation.

Up by one point, Jones missed two free throws for Northeast and the Hawks committed a foul on the other end of the floor to put Kirkwood at the free-throw line with a chance to win the matchup with 0.8 seconds remaining. The Eagles made just one of the two free throws, and the showdown went into overtime.

In the extra frame, the Hawks held Kirkwood to just five points while Northeast scored 13 of their own to knock off the team at the top of the ICCAC standings.

Not only did the Eagles lose their first conference game in 738 days on Saturday, but the win for the Hawks marked the first time that the women's basketball program at Northeast had beaten Kirkwood since November 22, 2013. Notably, the two programs have only played annually in the same conference since 2021.

STAT SHEET:

Aaliyah Jones (Rapid City, S.D.): 17 PTS, 7 AST, 3 RED

Lexi Wiebelhaus (Crofton, Neb.): 17 PTS, 9 REB,

Aweng Akoi (Sioux Falls, S.D.): 11 PTS, 14 REB

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head Women's Basketball Coach Matt Svehla on taking down No. 3 Kirkwood:

"Obviously, it takes a great effort to beat teams who play at a high level like Kirkwood," Svehla said. "It was a great effort by our entire group. Our players off the bench gave us great minutes. It looked like they were about to take control of the ballgame in each half at times, but we found a way in the middle of the game many times where we stopped them from getting too large of a lead."

Svehla on his team overcoming adversity to win in overtime:

"They sent the game into overtime, and those are always hard because we missed two free throws on our end and then we fouled with 0.8 seconds left," Svehla said. "The heads can be down a bit after having a chance to win it in regulation, but we talked in the huddle before overtime about finishing the game and I was really proud of how we played through those emotions."

Svehla on his team building off this massive victory:

"It's like anything," Svehla said. "You're always onto the next game, but you enjoy this one for awhile and then we'll have two more on the road next week that we'll need to be ready to play for."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will make the short trip down to Central Community College for a matchup against the Raiders at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Columbus, Nebraska.

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