Sat., Feb. 2 - Spartanburg, S.C.
The G.B. Hodge Center (818)
NKU (7-11, 4-5 A-Sun) at USC Upstate (8-12, 4-5), 2 p.m.
Series Record: NKU leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: NKU 70, USCU 62 (1-5-13)
NORSE NOTES (FIVE STARTERS & ONE)
1• NKU is 7-11 overall (4-5 in the A-Sun) after dropping a 77-67 decision to Mercer on Monday night.
2• Precious Bridges scored 20 points, and Kendra Grant added 19 points to lead Mercer.
3• NKU's
Tiara Hopper tied her career-high with 22 points, and she grabbed 10 rebounds. It marked her second double-double of the season.
4• The Norse are now 0-11 this season when trailing at the half. NKU is 7-0 when leading at the break.
5• NKU is now 58-9 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center. The Norse were unbeaten (4-0) against A-Sun teams at home prior to Monday's game.
+1• NKU defeated USC Upstate, 70-62, on Jan. 5.
SEVEN MORE: 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 7-7.
BRUIN MONDAY: The Mercer Bears became the first A-Sun opponent to defeat NKU in The Bank of Kentucky Center with a 77-67 victory over the Norse on Monday night. The Bears hit a variety of impressive mid-range jumpers even when well-defended by NKU and held on for the win.
Tiara Hopper scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead NKU despite going up against much taller Mercer post players. The 22 points equaled Hopper's career-best point total. It was also her second double-double of the season.
Jaimie Hamlet added 14 points, including four 3-point field goals. Hamlet also dished out five assists and grabbed three rebounds.
HOT SHOOTING: Mercer shot 53.1 percent from the field in the second half to pull away Monday night. Precious Bridges, the A-Sun's leading scorer, poured in 16 of her 20 points in the second half to lead the Bears.
Mercer's Sharnea Boykin dished out 10 assists and added five rebounds. The Bears grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and outscored NKU 18-5 in second-chance points.
MUST BE THE RIMS: NKU is shooting 41 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.
NKU is 1-9 on the road this season, with the one win being at Ball State. The Norse are 0-4 on the road against A-Sun foes.
UP THE LIST: NKU's
Ellen Holton enters Saturday with 631 career points, which is 57th in school history. Holton is 57 points away from moving past Jenny Niehaus (687 points) into the Norse's top 50 all-time scorers.
NKU's
Jaimie Hamlet enters Saturday with 483 career points. She is in 10th place in Norse history with 92 career 3-point field goals.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST USCU: Earlier this season on Jan. 5, freshman guard
Rianna Gayheart scored 19 of her career-high 24 points in the second half as NKU posted a 70-62 victory over South Carolina Upstate in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
Gayheart came off the bench to finish 7-for-11 from the floor and 6-for-8 from behind the arc to help the Norse capture their first Atlantic Sun Conference win. Her six 3-point field goals fell just shy of NKU's single-game record of eight, set by Shannon Roddy on Feb. 1, 1997, against Lewis.
She became the second Norse freshman this season to nearly tie Roddy's record.
Christine Roush made seven 3-pointers in a 69-67 win against Ball State on Dec. 8.
NKU jumped out to an early 21-6 lead in the first half and eventually stretched the advantage to 16 (34-18) with 2:05 left in the half. South Carolina Upstate scored six unanswered points, though, to cut the deficit to 34-24 at the break.
The Norse shot 43.3 percent from the floor in the first half and held the Spartans to just 32.3 percent accuracy.
NKU built a 52-38 advantage with 8:35 remaining in the game, but South Carolina Upstate used a 12-2 run to cut the lead to four (54-50) with just under six minutes left. The Norse responded with a 14-4 run, including a trio 3-pointers by Gayheart, to extend their lead to 68-54 with 3:28 left in the game.
The Spartans were unable to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way.
NKU finished with a 44-41 advantage on the boards and limited South Carolina Upstate to 18.8 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line.
THE COACH: NKU's
Dawn Plitzuweit is 124-50 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.
