Mon., Jan. 28 - Highland Heights, Ky.
The Bank of Kentucky Center (9,400)
Mercer (12-7, 6-2 A-Sun) at NKU (7-10, 4-4), 7 p.m.
Series Record: First meeting
NORSE NOTES (FIVE STARTERS & ONE)
1• NKU is 7-10 overall (4-4 in the A-Sun) after posting a 65-49 win over Kennesaw State on Saturday.
2• NKU jumped out to a 37-11 halftime lead after holding Kennesaw State to 19.2 percent shooting from the field.
3•
Kayla Thacker scored 16 points to lead NKU, while teammates
Tiara Hopper and
Christine Roush each added 11 points.
4• The Norse are 7-0 this season when leading at the half.
5• NKU is 58-8 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center, including 6-1 this season. During their last 13 home games dating back to last year, the Norse are 12-1.
+1• This is the first-ever meeting between NKU and Mercer in women's basketball.
THE HALFWAY POINT: Monday marks the halfway point of the A-Sun schedule. If NKU can defeat Mercer, the Norse will own a winning record (5-4) with nine games remaining. Four of those games will be in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
MUST BE THE RIMS: NKU is shooting 40.7 percent from the field this season when playing at home. When the Norse have played on the road, they have made 34.3 percent of their shots from the floor.
KSU RECAP: Kayla Thacker,
Tiara Hopper and
Christine Roush combined for 38 points as NKU rolled to a 65-49 victory over Kennesaw State at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Saturday.
Thacker scored 16 points, while Hopper and Roush each netted 11. Hopper also grabbed seven rebounds.
Rianna Gayheart dished out a game-high six assists for the Norse.
NKU held an 11-7 advantage with 13:39 remaining in the first half and used a 25-5 run to close out the half to take a 37-11 lead at the break. Thacker hit a 3-point shot to spark the run, and
Jaimie Hamlet capped it with a conventional three-point play.
The Norse limited the Owls to 19.2 percent shooting from the field and 11.1 percent from behind the arc in the first half.
Kennesaw State battled back in the second half by knocking down six shots from 3-point range. NKU, however, used a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers and a 28-14 advantage in points in the paint to collect the victory in the first meeting between the two programs in women's basketball.
The Norse forced 16 turnovers while only committing six of their own. NKU collected seven steals, including three from
Melody Doss, and shot 38.7 percent from the floor.
Ellen Holton added nine points for NKU.
UP THE LIST: NKU's
Ellen Holton enters Monday with 627 career points, which is 57th in school history. Holton is 61 points away from moving past Jenny Niehaus (687 points) into the Norse's top 50 all-time scorers.
NKU's
Jaimie Hamlet is currently 73rd in school history with 469 career points. She is in 11th place in Norse history with 88 career 3-point field goals and needs four treys to pass Danyelle Echoles (91) into 10th place.
STILL A CHANCE: NKU has a streak of 29 consecutive winning seasons, all while a member of Division II. The Norse, in their first year of Division I, need seven victories to extend that streak to 30. Since an 0-4 start, NKU has gone 7-6.
RIGHT AT HOME: NKU is 6-1 at home this season, including 4-0 against teams from the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Norse have defeated A-Sun rivals USC Upstate, East Tennessee State, Lipscomb and Kennesaw State at home this month. NKU is 0-4 against A-Sun foes on the road.
THE COACH: NKU's
Dawn Plitzuweit is 124-49 as a head coach. Plitzuweit collected 117 wins in five seasons at Grand Valley State and led the Lakers to the 2006 NCAA Division II national championship.
