Northeastern State University Women's Basketball

Keith Ferguson is the eighth coach in NSU women's basketball history and enters his second season in Tahlequah after spending seven as the head women's basketball coach at Bethany College (Kansas).  The 2024-25 season saw Northeastern State continue in its return to a winning tradition, completing a regular season sweep of in-state rival Central Oklahoma for a second straight season under Ferguson, while additionally earning their first win over Missouri Southern since 2019 and their first victory over Emporia State inside White Auditorium since 2015. Ferguson coached Alex Hill and Courtney Lee to career milestones, with Hill scoring her 1,000th career point in the ESU victory on Jan. 23 and Lee landing her 500th career rebound two days later on Jan. 25 in a win against Newman. The team won seven home games on the campaign, while they achieved their highest home attendance ranking in program history at 14th in Division II women's basketball with an overall attendance of 13,357. Ferguson's first season at the helm saw the RiverHawks reach a level of success that had not been seen in over a decade, as they won their most overall games since the 2012-13 season and won their most home games since the 2011-12 season. Key wins included triumphs at home over the defending conference champions in Nebraska-Kearney and the eventual MIAA regular season champions in Missouri Western. NSU also claimed a regular season sweep over in-state foe Central Oklahoma, while punching a ticket to their first MIAA Tournament since 2018. Courtney Lee and Halie Jones earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention selections for their work under Ferguson's watch for the year.  Ferguson is the third-winningest coach in Bethany women's basketball history, holding a mark of 121-87 for his alma mater.   His teams produced three 20-win seasons, 16 All-Conference selections, two Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Defensive Players of the Year, one KCAC Freshman of the Year, and one All-American.  Ferguson turned over a Bethany program that won 18 games in the three years before his arrival into a perennial KCAC contender and was named its conference's Coach of the Year in 2018.   He guided the Swedes to six consecutive KCAC postseason berths, reaching the semifinals twice, and held a 97-64 mark against conference foes.  Before returning to Bethany, Ferguson spent four seasons as an NCAA Division I assistant women's basketball coach splitting his time between Fresno State University and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.  At Fresno State, he helped the Bulldogs win 45 games in two seasons, including two second-round appearances in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.  Ferguson had six players earn all-conference team awards and three individual awards over the two years, including a co-player of the year award.  While he was with the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Ferguson recruited the top-ranked class in the Sunbelt Conference in 2014. He was an assistant at Hutchinson Community College (Kan.) during the 2011-12 season when the team finished with a 36-1 record and was the national runner-up at the NJCAA Tournament. Five players from this team received Division I offers. Ferguson also went 94-50 as a Junior College Head Coach for Brown Mackie College from 2007-09 and then Barton Community College from 2009-11. He led Brown Mackie to the program's first 20-win season and coached Barton to a 21-11 overall record and a Jayhawk Conference runner-up finish. Ferguson graduated from Bethany College with a bachelor's in business management in 2011. Coaching History  2023-Present: Northeastern State, head women's basketball coach 2016-23: Bethany College, head women's basketball coach 2014-16: Fresno State University, assistant women's basketball coach 2012-14: University of Louisiana at Monroe, assistant women's basketball coach 2011-12: Hutchinson Community College, assistant women's basketball coach 2009-11: Barton Community College, head women's basketball coach 2007-09: Brown Mackie College, head women's basketball coach Four-Year Head Coaching Year-By-Year Season Team Overall Postseason 2024-25 Northeastern State 11-17 2023-24 Northeastern State 14-15 MIAA Tournament 2022-23 Bethany 20-8 KCAC Tournament 2021-22 Bethany 20-12 KCAC Tournament 2020-21 Bethany 16-10 KCAC Tournament 2019-20 Bethany 21-10 KCAC Tournament Semifinals 2018-19 Bethany 19-13 KCAC Tournament Semifinals 2017-18 Bethany 18-12 KCAC Tournament 2016-17 Bethany 7-22  

Braxtyn Stewart enters her third season as an assistant women's basketball coach at Northeastern State University. Stewart assisted NSU to a regular season sweep on in-state rival Central Oklahoma in 2024-25, while additionally helping the program earn their first win over Missouri Southern since 2019 and their first victory over Emporia State inside White Auditorium since 2015. Stewart helped in coaching Alex Hill and Courtney Lee to career milestones, with Hill scoring her 1,000th career point in the ESU victory on Jan. 23 and Lee landing her 500th career rebound two days later on Jan. 25 in a win against Newman. The team won seven home games on the campaign, while they achieved their highest home attendance ranking in program history at 14th in Division II women's basketball with an overall attendance of 13,357. Her first season with the program saw her assist in NSU's strongest campaign in over a decade, as she coached a group that won their most overall games since the 2012-13 season and won their most home games since the 2011-12 season. Two players landed on the All-MIAA list, as a result, in Halie Jones and Courtney Lee.  She joined head coach Keith Ferguson and the Northeastern State women's basketball staff as an assistant coach in July of 2023. Stewart arrived in Tahlequah following a season at NCAA Division I Mercer in Macon, Ga.   A native of Emporia, Kan., Stewart was selected by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) as member of its 19th class of its "So You Want To Be A Coach" program.  A five-year letterwinner spending her first four seasons at Newman University (Wichita, Kan.), Stewart made 67 starts and playing in 106 games for the Jets.  She was part of a Newman squad that finished runner-up in the Heartland Conference standings and reached its Tournament finals. Stewart faced Northeastern State four times as a student-athlete when Newman began its MIAA membership in 2019.  Stewart played her COVID-season at Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kan.), where she played 30 games for the Blue Jays.  She attended Emporia High School and was a four-year varsity player participating in basketball, volleyball, softball, and track and field. As a basketball player, Stewart was a four-year varsity player earning all-area, second team all-league, all-state honorable mention in 2015-16. She earned first-team all-league, second team all-state, and all-area, first-team sports in Kansas. Coaching History 2023-Present: Northeastern State, assistant women's basketball coach 2022-23: Mercer, graduate assistant