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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. –
Kayla Thacker poured in a career-high 20 points to lead the Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team to a 68-55 victory over East Tennessee State in Atlantic Sun Conference play on Monday night in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
The junior guard from Mt. Washington, Ky., added six rebounds and four assists for NKU, which improved to 5-8 overall and 2-2 in the A-Sun. She also collected two blocked shots and two steals, while finishing 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point line.
“She affects the game in a lot of different ways,” NKU head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit said. “She creates possessions for us, whether they're offensive rebound possessions or defensively creating a lot by deflecting a lot of passes for us. She does a lot to keep herself in the game and us in the game at the same time.”
A 3-pointer by Thacker capped a 9-0 run in the first half that stretched a three-point lead (30-27) into a 39-27 advantage with 3:51 left in the half. The Buccaneers (3-7 overall, 1-2 A-Sun) cut the lead to six with 16 seconds remaining, but a layup by
Christine Roush gave the Norse a 46-38 lead at the break.
“I think it was a very gutty performance by our kids to end the eight day stretch of playing four games in eight days,” Plitzuweit said. “They came out and played with intensity and hit some shots early in the game to really put us in a good position.”
NKU started the second half with an 11-2 run to give the Norse a 57-40 advantage with 13:35 remaining in the game. ETSU put together a run of its own, and Brianna McQueen converted on a jumper five minutes later to cut the Norse lead to 62-51.
ETSU would not get any closer the rest of the way, and both teams failed to score a point during the final 3:31 of the game.
NKU won the rebounding battle by a 42-38 margin while limiting the Buccaneers to 27.6 percent shooting from the floor in the second half after shooting a 51.4 percent in the first. The Norse forced 16 turnovers, including 11 in the second half.
ETSU struggled from free-throw line and converted on just one of nine attempts. NKU, however, finished 14-for-19 from the line.
Melody Doss recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Norse. Hamlet finished with nine points, while
Kaitlyn Gerrety and
Ellen Holton each added eight points.
Serena Clark led the Buccaneers with 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals. Brianna McQueen scored 10 points and six assists.
The Norse are now 56-8 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center, including a 4-1 mark this season after winning back-to-back games. NKU defeated South Carolina Upstate, 70-62, on Saturday afternoon.
“It gives us a lot of confidence. We were tired of losing, and we knew that we could compete or even win these games,” Thacker said. “Having these two wins gives us the confidence to know that we can beat any team.”
NKU looks to win its third straight A-Sun contest on Saturday as the Norse host Lipscomb at 1 p.m.
