Atlantic Sun Weekly Release |
Game 17 Notes |
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Sat., Jan. 18
Jacksonville, Fla. – Swisher Gymnasium (1,500)
NKU (9-7 overall, 5-0 A-Sun) vs. Jacksonville (7-8 overall, 4-0 A-Sun)
Series Record: Tied at 1-all
Last Meeting: NKU 76, JU 71 OT (March 2, 2013)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team stays in Jacksonville, Fla., to continue Atlantic Sun Conference play on Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest against Jacksonville in a matchup between unbeaten teams at the Swisher Gymnasium.
NKU enters the contest on a five-game winning streak and improved its record to 9-7 overall and a perfect 5-0 mark in the Atlantic Sun as the Norse held on for a 57-51 victory over North Florida on Thursday evening.
Christine Roush finished with 14 points for the third consecutive game and collected three steals to lead the Norse, while
Kelley Wiegman added 12 points, four assists and three rebounds. The pair combined to go 14-for-16 from the free throw line on the night.
Jacksonville is also perfect in Atlantic Sun action at 4-0 and holds a 7-8 overall record. The Dolphins cruised to an 86-65 win over Lispcomb at home last night. Queen Alford, a unanimous preseason all-conference honoree, led five players in double figures for Jacksonville with 17 points. Jade Cargill pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and finished with 12 points, while Madison Scott added 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the floor.
Briona Brown and Sherranda Reddick, the reigning Atlantic Sun Newcomer of the Week for the second straight week, each scored 14 points for the Dolphins, and Stephanie Edwards dished out a game-high eight assists on the night.
Reddick leads the way for Jacksonville by averaging 14.5 points per game, which ranks fifth overall in the Atlantic Sun, while Alford contributes 13.5 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per contest. Scott averages 9.3 points per game and leads the conference in field-goal percentage at 58.9 percent. Edwards has dished out 52 assists on the year and collected 33 steals (2.2 spg) to rank second in the Atlantic Sun.
As a team, Jacksonville leads the conference in 3-point field goal percentage defense by limiting their opponents to just 25.8 percent from behind the arc. The Dolphins are pulling down an average of 41.9 rebounds per game while only allowing the other team to grab 37.6 boards, which both rank second in the Atlantic Sun, and they are shooting 40 percent from the floor to rank third.
Links to live stats, the ASun.TV broadcast and Andrew Kappes' audio broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.
LAST TIME AGAINST JACKSONVILLE: Rianna Gayheart scored six points in overtime as NKU pulled out a 76-71 win over visiting Jacksonville on March 2, 2013, in the last meeting between the two teams. Gayheart finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists as NKU finished its first Division I regular season with a 15-12 overall record. The Norse closed out Atlantic Sun Conference play with a 12-6 record, which placed them fourth in the final league standings.
Tiara Hopper, who finished with 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, gave NKU a 68-66 lead early in the overtime with an inside basket off an assist from Gayheart. After a steal by
Christine Roush, Gayheart took her defender off the dribble down the right side of the lane and hit a driving layup to extend the Norse advantage to 70-66.
Britney Holliday countered with five straight points to give Jacksonville a 71-70 lead with 2:39 left on the clock, but Gayheart answered with an acrobatic driving layup to put NKU ahead 72-71 at the 2:22 mark.
Hopper made a pair of free throws with 1:19 remaining to extend the Norse lead to 74-71, and Gayheart sealed the win with another basket with 13 seconds left.
Roush and Holton each added 16 points for NKU, while
Kayla Thacker finished with 10 points. Roush added five rebounds, two steals and two assists. Holton's basket in the closing seconds of regulation tied the game, and the Norse survived a last-second attempt by Queen Alford to force the overtime.
Holliday led Jacksonville with 23 points, and Alford added 13 points. The Dolphins were just 2-for-9 from the field in overtime, while NKU shot 4-for-6 from the field in the extra session to avenge a loss at Jacksonville on Dec. 31, 2012.
The Dolphins won the rebounding battle by a 48-43 count but made just 38.6 percent of their shots from the field. NKU shot 41.1 percent from the field and finished with seven blocks, as Holton and Thacker each had two rejections.
DOUBLE-FIGURE STREAK: Christine Roush finished 14 points for the third consecutive game against North Florida Thursday night. She also added 14 on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor against Mercer on Jan. 9 at The Bank of Kentucky Center and against Kennesaw State to help the Norse cruise to a 79-51 victory over Kennesaw State on Saturday.
The sophomore guard from Louisville, Ky., has now scored in double digits over the last four games for the Norse. At East Tennessee State on Jan. 4, Roush scored 11 points and finished 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
On the year, Roush is averaging 8.8 points per game and is shooting 92.1 percent (35-for-38) from the charity stripe to lead the Norse and the Atlantic Sun. Her 54.5 percent shooting from behind the 3-point arc also tops the conference.
CONFERENCE IMPROVEMENT: Kelley Wiegman has continued to improve her numbers since starting conference play. Through the non-conference portion of NKU's schedule, Wiegman averaged 5.6 points and 1.7 assists per game. However, since starting Atlantic Sun play, the freshman guard from Cincinnati, Ohio, is averaging 10.2 points per game behind a 12-point performance against North Florida last night. She has dished out 21 assists against conference opponents for an average of 4.2 per contest.
On the year, Wiegman is adding 7.1 points per game for the Norse. She leads the team in assists (40), steals (23) and free-throws made (60).
DEFENSE STRONG: One of NKU's strong points this season has been its defense. The Norse currently rank second in the Atlantic Sun both overall and in conference-only games for scoring defense. NKU is holding the other team to 62.9 points per game on the year, including a season-low 48 to Illinois State on Nov. 13 at The Bank of Kentucky Center. The Norse are limiting conference opponents to 57.2 points after giving up just 51 points to North Florida on Thursday evening.
BLOCK PARTY: The Norse also rank second in blocked shots over their first five Atlantic Sun contests. NKU has rejected 22 total shots against conference opponents, including seven against North Florida last night, for an average of 4.4 blocked shots per game. Mercer leads the way with an average of 6.4 rejections per contest and 32 over its conference schedule.
NO. 1 IN THE ATLANTIC SUN: Consistent with the rest of the season, NKU continues to lead the Atlantic Sun in free throw shooting at 76.0 percent. On Thursday, the Norse finished 16-for-19 from the charity stripe against North Florida to improve their overall percentage.
Christine Roush finished a perfect 6-for-6 from the line, while
Kelley Wiegman went 8-for-10 against the Ospreys.
Roush leads NKU and the Atlantic Sun in free throw shooting at 92.1 percent (35-for-38) this season.
Melody Doss is third in the conference, connecting on 84.8 percent (39-for-46) of her attempts from the charity stripe, while
Lauren White rounds out the top five for the Atlantic Sun at 83.0 percent (44-for-53).
HALFTIME LEADS: NKU is now 8-1 on the year when it enters halftime with a lead. The Norse held a 22-17 advantage over North Florida at the break last night before holding on for a 57-51 victory. The Norse also took leads into the break against Cincinnati (35-27), Robert Morris (38-29), Tennessee Martin (34-30), USC Upstate (34-33), East Tennessee State (43-24), Mercer (38-30) and Kennesaw State (25-21).
The only halftime advantage the Norse have not been able to keep was at Butler on Dec. 15. NKU entered the break up 27-23, but the Bulldogs outscored the Norse 30-20 in the second half to secure the win.
