Casse Mogan (left) drives to the basket against Virginia-Wise.
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Box score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Given the fact the heating system malfunctioned in The Bank of Kentucky Center on Tuesday, it was no surprise Northern Kentucky University and Virginia-Wise started off ice cold from the field.
Fortunately, NKU was able to generate some heat from the outside – in the form of 3-point shooting – and eventually warmed up to the chilly arena during a 70-48 victory against Virginia-Wise. The Norse missed their first nine shots from the field, while the Cavaliers did not sink a basket until the 13:51 mark.
Jaimie Hamlet and
Maria Bennett ignited a first-half NKU spurt with outside shooting. Hamlet buried a pair of 3-pointers and Bennett also made two treys as the Norse built a 20-7 lead. Bennett capped the run by knocking down a deep 3-pointer off an assist from
Sadie Bowling.
At that point, it looked as though NKU might run the Cavaliers off the chilly court. Virginia-Wise, however, outscored the Norse 13-12 the remainder of the half and trailed 32-20 at intermission.
Ellen Holton came off the bench and scored eight of her 14 points in the first half for NKU, which was 5-for-11 from behind the arc during the first 20 minutes. The Norse finished 9-or-22 from 3-point range as Hamlet drained five shots from downtown en route to scoring 17 points.
“I'm always harder on our point guards, and we ask a lot out of Jaimie,” NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. “She has really turned the corner maturity-wise.”
After falling behind by 16 points (38-22) early in the second half, Virginia-Wise used a 10-0 run to pull within 38-32 with 13:30 left on the clock. NKU called a timeout, and Hamlet buried a 3-pointer to extend her team's lead to 41-32.
Casse Mogan followed with a basket to make it 43-32, and
Kelsey Simpson later made two free throws to increase the NKU advantage to 45-32. Holton capped the Norse's 9-0 spurt with a layup that put her team up 47-32, and NKU (1-0) cruised to the season-opening victory.
Mogan netted 13 points and moved past NKU assistant coach
Karmen Graham (1,088 points) for 21st place on the Norse's all-time scoring list. Mogan, a senior guard, now has 1,096 career points.
NKU shot 45.2 percent from the field and held Virginia-Wise (2-3) to 35.8 percent shooting. The Norse also blocked 10 shots as a team, with Simpson and
Tiara Hopper each collecting three rejections.
Holton blocked two shots and was 6-for-9 from the field.
“Ellen is probably our best post player right now,” Winstel said.
Bowling dished out a career-high seven assists and grabbed six rebounds for NKU. Mogan and Hamlet both dished out four assists.
NKU is now 28-10 all-time in season-opening games. The Norse have won seven straight season openers. NKU's last loss in a season opener occurred on Nov. 16, 2004, when Georgetown (Ky.) posted an 85-64 win against the Norse in Regents Hall.
NKU returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. as Salem International visits The Bank of Kentucky Center.
