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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Daress McClung and Liz Stratman combined for 29 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocked shots Sunday afternoon as Butler posted a 66-56 win over Northern Kentucky.
McClung finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks for the visiting Bulldogs, who improved to 5-5. She also added six assists and four steals.
Stratman, a 6-foot-2 transfer from Xavier making her debut for Butler on Sunday, scored 14 points, grabbed four rebounds and added three blocked shots. The Bulldogs held NKU (2-6) to 28.3 percent shooting from the field and pulled out the win despite losing the rebounding battle by a 46-37 count, including 16 offensive boards by the Norse.
Butler used a 14-3 run early in the second half to build a 43-28 lead. McClung scored a pair of baskets and also assisted on two other scores during the spurt for the Bulldogs, who shot 50 percent from the field in the second half.
NKU sliced the Butler lead to single digits several times, but the Norse could get no closer than six points. The Bulldogs – who were 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half – were 3-for-19 from behind the arc.
Ellen Holton scored 13 points to lead NKU, while
Jaimie Hamlet added 10 points and five assists. Holton and Hamlet each finished with seven rebounds. The Norse committed 19 turnovers and were 3-for-13 from 3-point range.
"Early in the game, we just didn't do a good job of taking care of the ball,” NKU head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit said. “We took some early shots which might not have been great shots. We finally did settle down and had a better shot selection.
“We did have a lot of offensive rebounds. We were able to get to the free-throw line, and we were attacking the rim. Our effort was very, very good."
Kayla Thacker grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and added eight points for NKU, while teammate
Christine Roush also scored eight points. NKU's
Tiara Hopper, averaging a team-leading 11.4 points per game entering Sunday, was limited to six points – all free throws – and did not convert a field goal in nine attempts.
Taylor Schippers scored 13 points and dished out five assists for Butler, which evened the series with NKU at 1-all. The only other meeting between the two programs came on March 1, 1984, when NKU posted a 91-56 victory in Regents Hall.
NKU, in its first season of Division I competition, is now 53-8 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
NKU plays host to North Carolina-Wilmington this Thursday at 7 p.m. That will be the final non-conference game of the season for the Norse, who begin Atlantic Sun Conference play Dec. 31 at Jacksonville.
