HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – A pair of Atlantic Sun Conference women's basketball powerhouses will visit The Bank of Kentucky Center to meet Northern Kentucky University during the upcoming homestand, beginning Saturday when Stetson takes on the Norse at 4:30 p.m.
In addition, Atlantic Sun Conference-leading Florida Gulf Coast makes its first appearance in The Bank of Kentucky Center at 7 p.m. Monday to play the Norse.
Stetson is 18-6 overall, 11-2 in the A-Sun. Florida Gulf Coast is 20-5 overall, 13-0 in the A-Sun and two games ahead of Stetson in the standings. Northern Kentucky is 10-11 overall, 7-5 in the A-Sun and in fourth place in the league standings.
THINK PINK ON SATURDAY: Saturday marks the annual “Think Pink” game, and fans are invited to participate by wearing pink and supporting breast cancer awareness. The Norse men also play Stetson that evening at 7 p.m. The entire night is dedicated to cancer survivors and to raise awareness for breast and colon cancer. In addition, the first 200 NKU students will receive a free Coaches vs. Cancer T-shirt.
AT STAKE: Northern Kentucky is attempting to finish in the top four of the A-Sun standings in its first year of playing Division I basketball. The Norse also have a streak of 29 consecutive winning seasons, all while a member of Division II. The Norse need four victories to extend that streak to 30 straight. Since an 0-4 start, Northern Kentucky has posted a 10-7 record.
Stetson is trying to remain in contention for the top seed in the upcoming A-Sun Tournament, but the Hatters will need help. They trail Florida Gulf Coast by two games and have already lost to the Eagles earlier this season.
AT HOME IN THE BOKC: Northern Kentucky is 58-9 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center, including 6-2 this season. The Norse are 4-1 against A-Sun teams at home, with the lone setback a 77-67 loss to Mercer on Jan. 28.
OPPONENT INSIDE FACTS: Stetson is 6-5 on the road this season, 12-0 at home and 0-1 on neutral floors. Florida Gulf Coast is 8-2 on the road, 11-1 at home and 1-2 on neutral floors.
TRIPLE-THREAT THACKER: Northern Kentucky junior guard
Kayla Thacker poured in 17 of her career-high 23 points in the second half to lead the Norse to a 75-58 win at Lipscomb last Saturday night. Thacker also made a career-high six 3-point field goals in that victory and ignited a huge second-half run for the Norse.
With Lipscomb holding a 42-39 lead early in the second half, Northern Kentucky stormed back with a 17-0 run to gain a 56-42 advantage. The Norse extended the lead to as many as 21 points and cruised to their third straight victory.
Thacker began the game-changing run by knocking down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 42-all. She later hit a jumper in transition to give NKU a 49-42 edge, and added another trey to extend the Norse lead to 52-42.
SEEING DOUBLE-DOUBLE: NKU senior center
Ellen Holton scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the win at Lipscomb. Holton netted 11 points in the first half to move past both Regina Webb and Danita Duncan on the Norse all-time scoring list into 51st place. She now has 685 career points at NKU and is three shy of passing Jenny Niehaus for 50th place in Norse history.
SWEEPING THE A-SUN: During its recent three-game road swing, Northern Kentucky wrapped up season sweeps of USC Upstate, East Tennessee State and Lipscomb.
GET THE LEAD: Northern Kentucky is unbeaten (9-0) when leading at halftime this season.
DRIVE AND DISH: Northern Kentucky is one of three schools in the A-Sun with a pair of players in the league's statistical top 10 for assists. Norse freshman guard
Rianna Gayheart averages 2.9 assists per game and is seventh in the A-Sun in that category, while senior guard
Jaimie Hamlet is ninth at 2.7 assists per contest. Florida Gulf Coast has three players in the A-Sun's top 10 in assists, while Stetson shows a pair of players in the top 10 in that category.
CENTURY MARK LOOMS: Hamlet also enters Saturday with 98 career 3-point field goals, which is No. 9 in school history. Heather Livingstone (99 treys) is currently in eighth place on the Norse all-time list, and Amy Mobley (104) is seventh.
THE COACH: Northern Kentucky's
Dawn Plitzuweit is 127-50 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. She is in her first year with the Norse.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST STETSON: Earlier this season on Jan. 21 in DeLand, Fla., Stetson held Northern Kentucky to 16 points in the second half, started taking advantage of Norse turnovers and sprinted to a 62-39 win over the Norse in the Edmunds Center. Victoria McGowan paced Stetson with 16 points and eight rebounds in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
McGowan netted 11 points in the second half. Sasha Sims added 13 points for Stetson, which finished with a 28-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The Hatters forced Northern Kentucky into 22 turnovers and also blocked nine shots.
NKU built a seven-point lead (11-4) early in the first half by holding Stetson to 2-for-13 shooting from the field. The Hatters responded with a 3-point field goal by Ashley Dennis and a conventional three-point play from Sims to slice the deficit to 11-10.
The Norse countered with a 9-3 run to extend their lead to 20-13
Jaimie Hamlet's 3-pointer from the left corner, but Stetson scored the next 11 points to take a 24-20 advantage. McGowan keyed the Hatter run with five points and an assist.
Stetson opened the second half with a 7-0 run to build a 31-23 lead on McGowan's basket, a coast-to-coast driving layup. The Hatters eventually forged a 51-32 lead. McGowan capped the run by grabbing an offensive rebound and spinning inside for a layup.
Kayla Thacker led Northern Kentucky with nine points. The Norse shot 25.5 percent from the field, including 6-for-19 from 3-point range.
Stetson finished at 35.9 percent shooting from the field and won the rebounding battle by a 47-41 margin. Cherisse Burris pulled down a game-high 12 boards for the Hatters, and she added three blocks and five steals.
