NKU will honor its four seniors prior to Thursday's game.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team plays its final Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season game Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against longtime rival Bellarmine.
NKU is 20-5 overall, 13-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Norse have reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in seven years. Bellarmine is 13-12 overall, 7-10 in the GLVC.
NKU has clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming GLVC Tournament, which will be held in Springfield, Ill. The Norse will play in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals March 1 at a time to be determined.
THE SERIES: NKU owns a 51-27 lead in the all-time series with Bellarmine. The Norse are 27-9 all-time at home against the Knights. Earlier this season in Louisville, Ky., NKU posted a 72-65 win over Bellarmine in Knights Hall.
Bellarmine has not won in Highland Heights, Ky., since Jan. 19, 2002, when the Knights defeated NKU, 72-59, in Regents Hall. Bellarmine has since lost nine straight times when playing at NKU. The Knights are 0-2 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
GLVC FINALE: Thursday will mark the final regular-season GLVC game for NKU, which joined the league in time for the 1985-86 campaign. NKU met Bellarmine in its first-ever GLVC contest on Dec. 17, 1985, and posted a 68-67 win over the Knights in Louisville, Ky.
LAST HOME GAME: NKU seniors
Stephanie Hodges,
Sadie Bowling,
Maria Bennett and
Casse Mogan will be recognized Thursday night prior to the game. Mogan has 1,520 career points and passed Michele Tuchfarber (1,509) for fourth place in NKU history last Saturday. Barb Harkins is currently in third place with 1,585 points.
Bowling, a three-year starter for NKU, enters Thursday No. 4 in the GLVC in rebounding at 8.1 per game and is one of the top defenders in the league. She has scored 620 career points and grabbed 609 rebounds in her four years.
Hodges is a four-year letterwinner who has helped NKU reach the 20-win mark this season, the third time in her career the Norse have accomplished that feat. Last season in the first round of the GLVC Tournament, Hodges drained four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points as NKU defeated Kentucky Wesleyan in the Owensboro Sportscenter.
Bennett is in her first season with the Norse after transferring from Wright State. She leads NKU with 49 made 3-pointers this season and averages 7.0 points per game. Bennett has scored 855 points in her collegiate career, and she enters Thursday No. 8 in the GLVC in 3-pointers made per game.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST BELLARMINE: On Jan. 16, NKU claimed its 800th all-time win in women's basketball with a 72-65 victory over Bellarmine in Knights Hall.
Ellen Holton led with 21 points and three blocked shots. Holton, who was 9-for-13 from the field, netted 19 points in the second half as the Norse rallied from a 28-19 deficit at the break.
Casse Mogan added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists for NKU, which shot 61.3 percent from the field in the second half to storm from behind.
Tiara Hopper finished with 10 points, while
Sadie Bowling grabbed 11 rebounds.
