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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Nothing was going to stop Northern Kentucky University's women from wrapping up a 30th consecutive winning season Thursday night.
Just ask visiting North Florida, which watched Northern Kentucky jump out to a 23-2 lead en route to a 57-44 victory in The Bank of Kentucky Center. The Norse built the huge advantage and led the entire game to clinch something that few thought possible when they began their first season in Division I with four straight losses: a winning record.
“As coaches, we're more concerned about getting better each game and being prepared for the next opponent, so I never gave it any thought until some of the players started talking about it,” Northern Kentucky head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit said of securing the winning record. “It says a great deal about these kids and this program.
“They battled back from a rough start when we scored 31 points against Cincinnati in the opener. We had trouble scoring and Cincinnati is a good defensive team. But our players kept working it, and it's nice to know we were able to keep that streak alive.”
Christine Roush scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Norse, who improved to 14-12 overall, 11-6 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The freshman guard from Louisville, Ky., buried a trio of 3-pointers in the first half and added two assists as Northern Kentucky extended its streak of winning seasons to 30.
Freshman guard
Rianna Gayheart added 13 points, five rebounds and three steals for the Norse, who held North Florida to 14.8 percent shooting in the first half to build a 28-10 lead at the break. The Ospreys started the game 1-for-22 from the field and never recovered.
“These are the kind of games early in the season that we struggled to win, but to our players' credit, they found a way to be much better defensively and be able to pull out games even we are not scoring,” Plitzuweit said. “I thought we had stretches where we had good looks in this game and just missed them. We knew this would be the kind of game that we would have to grit it out, and the players did a good job overall against North Florida's pressure.”
Junior guard
Kayla Thacker added eight points and 11 rebounds, the fourth time in the past five games she has finished with at least 10 boards. Thacker pulled down five offensive rebounds and added two steals.
Ellen Holton started the Norse onslaught in the first half with inside baskets that were assisted by
Jaimie Hamlet for a 4-0 Northern Kentucky lead. Ki Conner responded with a jumper to make it 4-2, but the Ospreys would go the next 12 minutes without a point as the Norse built a 23-2 bulge.
Destinee Smith scored 16 points to lead North Florida, which finished at 30.8 percent shooting from the field. Conner added 15 points for the Ospreys, who had defeated the Norse earlier this season, 59-55, in Jacksonville, Fla.
Northern Kentucky shot 36.5 percent from the field and won the battle of the boards by one (41-40). The Norse improved to 12-0 this season when leading at halftime and have won eight of their past 10 games.
Northern Kentucky concludes the season Saturday at 5:30 p.m. with a home game against Jacksonville. The Norse's four seniors – Holton, Hamlet,
Tiara Hopper and
Kelsey Simpson – will also be recognized during Saturday's season finale.
