Northern Kentucky University Athletics

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Alexis Govan scored 22 poinst to lead the Western Kentucky University women's basketball team to a 65-53 victory over Northern Kentucky University in the 30th Annual BB&T Classic on Saturday night at the E.A. Diddle Arena.

NKU pressured Western Kentucky (2-0) early in the game and built an 11-5 lead.  The Lady Toppers responded with an 11-0 run midway through the first half to take a 17-11 advantage with 4:20 remaining in the half. Govan scored six points during that spurt and capped the run with a layup off a fast break opportunity.


The Lady Toppers extended the lead to 44-25 with 10:27 left in the game, but the Norse used a 13-2 run to cut the Western Kentucky lead to eight with just over seven minutes remaining.  Freshman Christine Roush fueled the run with nine points, including two 3-point field goals.

“I think the group that closed out the game really did a great job,” NKU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said.  “We were down by 19 in the second half, but we battled, came back and got to within eight.  I thought that was a great character test for our kids on the road.”

NKU (0-3) could not get any closer in the closing minutes of the game and Western Kentucky held on for the win.

Roush and junior Kayla Thacker led the Norse with 11 points.  Thacker added eight rebounds and six steals on the night as well.

“I thought Kayla was very aggressive, and I thought she did a great job getting to the rim. Because she got to the rim, she got to the free-throw line,” Plitzuweit said.  “Christine has a great deal of toughness to her and is someone I think is going to continue to improve because she is seeing a lot of minutes right now.”

Sophomore Kaitlyn Gerrety contributed solid minutes off the bench and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds after a strong performance against Miami (Ohio) on Monday night.  Senior Tiara Hopper added 10 points for the Norse.

Freshman Rianna Gayheart scored all nine of her points in the second half.  Sheconnected on two clutch shots from behind the arc. Gayheart's first 3-pointer sparked NKU's 13-2 run, while her second cut the Lady Topper lead to eight with 5:06 remaining in the game.

NKU returns to action on Wednesday evening as the Norse travel to Loyola (Chicago). Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.