Sadie Bowling (right) led NKU with 16 points against Lynn (Fla.) on Friday.
Box score
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team rallied from an early seven-point deficit and cruised to a 53-43 victory at Lynn (Fla.) on Friday.
Sadie Bowling scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead NKU (1-0), which won its sixth consecutive season opener. Bowling, a junior forward from Madison, Ind., also buried a key 3-pointer late in the second half to halt a Lynn rally that had chopped a 12-point NKU lead to 40-39 with less than seven minutes left in the game.
Bowling's 3-pointer extended the Norse lead to 43-39, and NKU pulled away late to seal the road win. It marked the first meeting between NKU and Lynn in women's basketball.
Lynn (0-1) jumped out to a 10-3 lead five minutes into the game, but NKU closed the half with an 18-5 run to take a 21-15 advantage at the break. The Norse held Lynn scoreless during the final 7:24 of the first half to gain the lead with a 9-0 run.
Senior center
Kendra Caldwell scored six points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for NKU, which won the battle of the boards by a whopping 52-28 margin. NKU guard
Jaimie Hamlet made a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
Casse Mogan and
Shanece Miller each netted nine points for NKU. Miller, a transfer from Southeast Missouri State, also added 10 rebounds in her NKU debut.
NKU held Lynn scoring machine Chelsea Patterson to seven points on 2-for-14 shooting from the field. A year ago, Patterson averaged 14.1 points per game.
The Knights made just 32.1 percent of their shots from the field, compared to 34.5 percent shooting by NKU.
The Norse conclude the two-game trip Saturday at 4 p.m. by playing Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
