Pitt State (4-0, 0-0) vs Northeastern State (3-2, 0-0) Central Oklahoma (4-0, 0-0) Game Day Information What:    vs. Northeastern State     vs. Central Oklahoma When:    Wednesday, December 2 • 5:30 p.m.     Saturday, December 5 • 1:30 p.m. Where:    John Lance Arena • Pittsburg, Kan. Live Stats:     http://www.sidearmstats.com/pittstate/wbball/ Live Radio:     KKOW AM 860 or http://www.kkowradio.com/ Live Video:     http://portal.stretchinternet.com/pittstate/ Head Coaches Pittsburg State (4-0, 0-0 MIAA):    Lane Lord (Tabor '93) Record at PSU/Overall:    158-83 (ninth season)/same Northeastern State (3-2, 0-0 MIAA):    Randy Gipson (Kentucky '79) Record at NSU/Overall:    304-165 (17th season)/same Central Oklahoma (4-0, 0-0 MIAA)    Guy Hardaker (Central Oklahoma '84) Record at UCO/Overall:    168-101 (10th season)/same Last Time Out Pittsburg State:    at Mary • W, 62-49 Northeastern State:    vs. Rogers State • L, 54-58 Central Oklahoma:     vs. Mid-America Christian • W, 82-69     will play Missouri Southern on December 3 What's Next? Pittsburg State:    December 10 at Missouri Western • 5:30 p.m. Northeastern State:     December 5 at Missouri Southern • 1 p.m. Central Oklahoma:    December 12 at Lincoln • 1:30 p.m.

 PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The Gorillas open MIAA play while playing its home opener on Wednesday night against Northeastern State in John Lance Arena. The Gorillas come into the game with a 4-0 record after two successful early season  tournaments. Northeastern State comes to Pittsburg with a 3-2 record. Saturday, the Gorillas tip off at 1:30 p.m against undefeated Central Oklahoma. The Bronchos are also 4-0 coming into the week, though they will face Missouri Southern on Thursday before coming to Pittsburg on Saturday.

Scouting Northeastern State
Northeastern State travels to Pittsburg with a 3-2 overall record this week. The team dropped their last two contests to University of Arkansas-Fort Smith (48-67) and Rogers State (54-58), both of which took place at NSU's Event Center. 

As a team, the RiverHawks are shooting .363 (102-281) from the field, .310 (40-129) from behind the arc, and .708 (46-65) from the foul line. Northeastern State also averages 38.0 rebounds, 13.4 assists, and 6.2 steals per game.

The team currently has one player scoring in double figures. Junior forward, Mary Jane Buschmann, averages 12.8 ppg, while also leading the team in boards with 5.6 rpg. True freshman guard Kylie Looney has scored 33 of her 37 total points from behind the arc, marking a .524 (11-21) three-point average. Kate Bellamy and Destiny Strange also contribute 6.8 and 6.4 ppg, respectively.

Scouting Central Oklahoma
Central Oklahoma will open conference play against Missouri Southern before traveling to Pittsburg on Saturday. The team improved to 4-0 after edging out Mid-America Christian University last week, 82-69. 

Collectively, the Bronchos are shooting .432 (104-241) from the field, .305 (25-85) from distance, and .703 (52-74) from the charity stripe. Central Oklahoma also averages 41.0 rebounds, 15.5 assists, and 9.5 steals per contest.

Three players score in double figures for the Bronchos. Senior guard McKenzie Solberg ties for second in the MIAA in points per game with 19.0 and ranks first in steals per game with 3.0. Sadie Mason contributes 10.8 ppg off the bench, while Haley Weathers averages 10.5 ppg. Weathers also shoots .517 (15-29) from behind the three-point line.

Scouting Pittsburg State
The Gorillas opened the 2015-16 season on November 13 and 14 with wins over Minot State and the University of Mary on the road as part of the MIAA/NSIC Challenge. The Gorillas defeated Minot, 78-60, and Mary, 62-49. The road swing continued with two wins in the Tiger Classic in Hays, Kan. The Gorillas earned a 76-57 win over Regis and then followed with a convincing 87-48 win over St. Cloud State.

Fourteen different players saw action in the first four games with 12 scoring. The Gorillas have averaged 75.8 points per game, while holding opponents to just 53.5 ppg. Pitt State is shooting .457 overall and .340 from three-point range. The Gorillas pull down 36.8 rebounds per game.

Three different players averaged double figures over the first four games. Mikaela Burgess leads the team with 17.3 ppg, including a career-high 23 against Regis on November 20. Kylie Gafford scored 23 in the first outing of the season and averages 11.5 ppg on the season. Cathy Brugman came alive to hit six threes and score 22 against St. Cloud State on November 21. She averages 12.0 ppg. Elena Flott came off the bench to score 11 points in each of the first two games and is averaging 6.5 ppg. Gafford, Hadyn Herlocker and Madison Northcutt lead the team with 4.8 rebounds per game, though Brugman and Paige Lungwitz are just behind them with 4.5 rpg. Herlocker continued her career trend of taking care of the ball. In the first two games she dished out eight assists, but committed only one turnover, and now has 14 assists with 8 turnovers. Paige Imhoff also has 14 assists on the season. Herlocker and Burgess lead the team with six steals a piece, while Lungwitz adds five.

Flott shoots the highest percentage overallbat .640. Burgess leads the team with 13 threes made on the season. She is one of three players that have made five or more threes in the first two games. Brugman has made seven and Herlocker, five. Lungwitz is the top free throw shooter. She has gone to the line 14 times and made 13 of her shots. Gafford is 15-for-17 from the charity stripe.

PSU vs. Northeastern State
After sweeping the Riverhawks the last two seasons, the Gorillas lead the all-time series with Northeastern State, 15-11. The Gorillas lead the series in Pittsburg 10-4 and at neutral sites, 2-1, but the Riverhawks lead in Tahlequah 6-3.             

The longest streak of wins in the series was six by the Northeastern from Jan. 4, 1985 to Nov. 25,1988. Pitt State's longest string of wins is the current five-game win streak over the RiverHawks. The streak began on Feb. 16, 2013.

The most points scored by either team in a game has been 84, in last season's 84-48 Pitt State win in Pittsburg. The 36-point win was also the largest margin of victory by either team in the series. NSU's largest margin of victory has been 22 points on Jan. 10, 1987.             

The teams have met seven times over the last three seasons. Pitt State has won five of those games. Six of the last seven games have been decided by double figures, the one exception being the Gorillas nine-point win in Tahlequah last season.

PSU vs. Central Oklahoma
The Gorillas and Bronchos have met 26 times with PSU holding a 17-9 series advantage. The first meeting between the two teams on November 20, 1982 resulted in the Gorillas' falling by a score of 58-77. Pitt State won all three meetings last season, including a 78-71 win in the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.

Pitt State has won each of the last six meeting, tying the longest streak of wins in series hsitory. The Gorillas have now won eight of the last 10 games.

The longest winning streak in the series is PSU's six game streak from 1992-1998, as well as the current six game win streak. During that time the five of the six Pitt State victories were by 12 or more points. In the current win streak, four of the six have been by double digits, including one of the biggest wins in series history. The largest margin of victory in the series was a 83-53 Gorilla win on Nov. 26, 1994 in Joplin, Mo and again last season, a 30-point 85-55 win in Pittsburg. The Bronchos biggest win was a 90-67 win on Nov. 25, 1989 in Pittsburg.

She's Having a Block Party
Senior Kylie Gafford has been a significant presence down low for the Gorillas in her first three seasons. Her number of blocks has increased each season and with her team-leading five blocks over the first three games, Gafford has 141 blocks for her career. She is just one block shy of tying Lauren Brown for second place and is 47 from surpassing the record of 187 set by Larissa Richards from 2008-2012.

Taking Care of the Rock
Junior point guard Hadyn Herlocker may not have seen a ton of court time prior to earning her starting spot this season, but the minutes she has played has made a significant impact, as she has done a superb job of taking care of the ball. Last season she dished out 65 assists with only 30 turnovers for a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio. She is just short of that for her career with 103 assists and only 55 turnovers for a 1.87 assist/turnover ratio.

Burgess for THREE!
Sophomore Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 13 threes in Pitt State's first four games, an average of just over three threes made per game. Last season she was second on the team with 52 threes made. She shoots .369 from three for her career and is on pace to find her way into the record books for threes made this season.

Up Next
The Gorillas take to the road again, this time for MIAA games at No. 22 Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri. Thursday's (December 10) game in St. Jospeh tips off at 5:30 p.m. The game against Northwest Missouri is scheduled for Saturday, December 12 at 1:30 p.m., but it could be pushed back to Sunday if the Bearcat football team has a playoff game on Saturday.