Northern Kentucky University Athletics

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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Maria Bennett demonstrated her 3-point shooting skills Thursday night to lead Northern Kentucky University to a 73-41 win over William Jewell.

Bennett knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to lead NKU to its fifth consecutive victory. The senior guard scored 10 points in the first half as NKU built a 31-19 lead at the break.

While playing at Wright State, Bennett scored a career-high 26 points against Valparaiso on Jan. 18, 2011. The 21-point performance on Thursday was her career-best at NKU.

“My goal is to make three's and shoot well,” said Bennett, who was 8-for-11 from the field. “We stuck together and finished the game.”

Bennett buried a pair of 3-pointers during a 16-6 run during the opening 20 minutes to help turn a 5-4 deficit into a 20-11 Norse advantage. She capped the spurt with a trey off an assist from Sadie Bowling.

NKU closed the half with an 8-2 run, with Stephanie Hodges converting a basket at the buzzer to extend the Norse lead to 31-19. NKU shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and held William Jewell to 33.3 accuracy from the floor to forge the 12-point lead.

“We came out a little sloppy, but once we started playing I thought we did some good things,” NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. “Our strength this year is our depth. We have 12 players, so we can move people around and get things done.”

The Norse opened the second with a 23-9 run to extend the lead to 54-28 and cruised to their fifth consecutive win. Bennett also capped that spurt with another 3-pointer that was assisted by Jaimie Hamlet.

Casse Mogan added 13 points for NKU, which improved to 9-2 overall, 2-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Mogan also moved into 18th place on the Norse all-time scoring list with 1,257 career points.

Ellen Holton finished with 10 points, and teammate Sadie Bowling grabbed 10 rebounds. It marked the fifth straight game in which NKU has held the opposition under 50 points. It was also the first meeting between NKU and William Jewell in women's basketball.

William Jewell dropped to 6-3 overall, 1-2 in the GLVC. The Cardinals did not place a player in double figures and shot just 32.7 percent from the field.

The Norse close out the week by playing host to Rockhurst at 1 p.m. NKU is 6-0 all-time against Rockhurst, which knocked off Bellarmine on Thursday night.