NKU's Casse Mogan (32) collects a steal earlier this season.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team begins Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday with a 6:30 p.m. game at Saint Joseph's.
NKU continues the road trip Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. showdown at Indianapolis. The Norse are 3-1 overall going into Thursday night.
Saint Joseph's owns a 3-2 overall record, and Indianapolis is also 3-2.
SJC/NKU SERIES: NKU is 40-13 all-time against Saint Joseph's, and the Norse have won the past six meetings with the Pumas. NKU is 15-11 all-time against Saint Joseph's in Rensselaer, Ind.
UI/NKU SERIES: NKU is 42-17 all-time against Indianapolis. The Norse own an 18-10 record against the Greyhounds inside Nicoson Hall. Indianapolis eliminated NKU from the GLVC Tournament last season with a 61-57 victory over the Norse in St. Louis, Mo.
HAWAII RECAP: NKU posted a 1-1 record in the Oahu Classic in Honolulu during the Thanksgiving break. The Norse dropped a 50-36 decision to then-No. 19 Northeastern (Okla.) State on Thanksgiving night, but NKU bounced back with a 66-44 win over BYU-Hawaii the following evening.
Casse Mogan and
Maria Bennett combined for 34 points to lead the Norse over BYU-Hawaii. Mogan finished with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, and she added three rebounds. Bennett scored 16 points and knocked down four shots from 3-point range.
BIG SPURT: Leading BYU-Hawaii by a 26-23 score with 17:27 left in the game, NKU used a 12-0 run early in the second half to build a commanding 38-23 advantage. Mogan scored seven points to key the spurt, and
Melody Doss capped it by sinking a jumper with 13:53 remaining.
After BYU-Hawaii stopped the NKU run with a basket, the Norse responded with a 22-3 spurt to extend the lead to 60-28. Bennett buried a pair of 3-pointers during the Norse run.
COLD SPELL: In the 50-36 loss to Northeastern State, NKU made just 25 percent of its shots from the field and tied an ominous school record for fewest points scored.
The 36 points scored equaled the lowest total in Norse history, which was set twice previously during road losses at Wisconsin-Parkside (50-36 on Feb. 28, 2010, and 44-36 on Jan. 15, 2011).
THE LAST TIME AGAINST SAINT JOSEPH'S: On Jan. 27, 2011,
Casse Mogan scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half, including a pair of game-clinching free throws in the final seconds, to lead NKU to a 62-57 win against Saint Joseph's in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
After Saint Joseph's pulled to within 60-57 on a 3-pointer by Tatiana Ortiz with 14 seconds left, Mogan sealed the win for NKU with 7.1 seconds remaining by making a pair of free throws. Ortiz led Saint Joseph's with 23 points.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: On March 4, 2011, Kristin Turner and Heather Gonser both drained 3-pointers in the final 1:27 of the game as Indianapolis rallied for a 61-57 win against NKU in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals in St. Louis, Mo.
The Greyhounds rallied from a 57-53 deficit with 1:31 remaining with a game-ending 8-0 run and avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Norse.
