Mon., Feb. 4 - Johnson City, Tenn.
Mountain States Health Alliance Athletics Center (14,000)
NKU (8-11, 5-5 A-Sun) at East Tennessee State (6-11, 4-6), 7 p.m.
Series Record: NKU leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: NKU 68, ETSU 55 (1-7-13)
NORSE NOTES (FIVE STARTERS & ONE)
1• NKU is 8-11 overall (5-5 in the A-Sun) after posting an 81-61 win at USC Upstate on Saturday.
2•
Ellen Holton scored a career-high 26 points to lead NKU to that victory. Holton poured in 15 points in the first half on 7-for-10 shooting from the field.
3• NKU's
Jaimie Hamlet scored 18 points and dished out a career-high eight assists at USC Upstate.
4• The Norse are 8-0 when leading at halftime this season. NKU is 0-11 when trailing at the break.
5• NKU's 81 points marked the best offensive showing of the season, 10 points better than the 71 the Norse scored against UNC Wilmington in December.
+1• NKU defeated ETSU, 68-55, on Jan. 7, which was the first meeting between the two programs.
SENIORITY RULES: NKU seniors
Ellen Holton and
Jaimie Hamlet stole the show Saturday afternoon during the Norse's 81-61 win at USC Upstate. Holton poured in a career-high 26 points, while Hamlet added 18 points and a career-best eight assists. Hamlet also buried a trio of 3-pointers as the Norse completed the season sweep over USC Upstate.
Holton scored 11 of her team's first 16 points as the Norse bolted out to a 16-3 advantage. NKU shot 51.5 percent from the field in the first half and led by as many as 15 points (43-28). Holton was 7-for-10 from the field during the opening 20 minutes, while Hamlet dished out five of her eight assists in the first half.
NUMBERS GAME: Holton enters Monday with 657 career points, which is 54th in school history. She is now 31 points away from moving past Jenny Niehaus (687 points) into the Norse's top 50 all-time scorers. Holton's 26 points were the most by an NKU player this season.
Hamlet enters Monday with 501 career points. She is in 10th place in Norse history with 95 career 3-point field goals and needs three treys to pass Shannon Roddy (97) for ninth place.
DAGGER BY GAYHEART: NKU freshman guard
Rianna Gayheart also played a key role in the win at USC Upstate by hitting a pair of high 3-pointers in the first half. She then scored 10 more in the second half to finish with 16 points.
In the first meeting of the season with USC Upstate, Gayheart netted a career-best 24 points to lead NKU to a 70-62 victory. She averaged 20 points per game in the two wins over the Spartans.
MISCUES = POINTS: The Norse took advantage of 20 USC Upstate turnovers for a 23-10 edge in points off those miscues on Saturday. NKU also blocked a season-high six shots during Saturday's win.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?: NKU is 5-3 when playing on Saturday this season. The Norse are 1-4 in games played on Monday.
THE COACH: NKU's
Dawn Plitzuweit is 125-50 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.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST ETSU: Earlier this season on Jan. 7,
Kayla Thacker poured in a career-high 20 points to lead NKU to a 68-55 victory over East Tennessee State in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
The junior guard added six rebounds and four assists for NKU, and she also collected two blocked shots and two steals while finishing 4-for-9 from behind the 3-point line.
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 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.
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.
