Atlantic Sun Weekly Notes |
Game 19 Notes |
Live stats |
Live video |
Live audio
Thurs., Jan. 30
Highland Heights, Ky. – The Bank of Kentucky Center (9,400)
NKU (10-8 overall, 6-1 A-Sun) vs. Stetson (14-5 overall, 6-1 A-Sun)
Series Record: Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: NKU 73, SU 68 (Feb. 16, 2013)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team remains home for a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference games this week, starting with Stetson at 7 p.m. Thursday in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
NKU enters the contest 10-8 overall and 6-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference after earning a 72-65 victory over Lipscomb Saturday to start its homestand.
Kayla Thacker led the way for the NKU with her first double-double of the season, finishing the night with 18 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.
Sarah Kinch finished one point shy of her career high with 15 on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor, while
Christine Roush added 13 points for the Norse.
Stetson is 14-5 overall and 6-1 in the Atlantic Sun after picking up an 84-67 victory over Jacksonville Saturday afternoon. Jama Sharp scored 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field to lead the way for the Hatters, while Amber Porter added 14 points, helping to earn her fourth Atlantic Sun Newcomer of the Week honor of the year on Monday.
Stetson features five players averaging in double figures led by Sasha Sim's 17.2 per game, which ranks second in the conference behind NKU's
Melody Doss. Brianti Saunders and Porter, who leads the conference in field-goal shooting percentage at 55.6 percent, are each averaging 13.7 points per game, while Cherisse Burris and Sharp add 10.9 per contest. Burris has pulled down a team-high 148 rebounds (7.8 rpg), while Sharp has dished out 117 assists to rank second in the Atlantic Sun.
As a team, the Hatters top the conference in several categories, including scoring average (79.2), field-goal percentage (.459) and 3-point shooting (340). Stetson also leads the Atlantic Sun in field-goal percentage defense (.369) and rebounding (43.5 rpg).
Links to live stats, the ASun.TV broadcast and Andrew Kappes' audio broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.
LAST TIME AGAINST STETSON: Kayla Thacker scored five points in the final 21 seconds of the game to lift NKU to a 73-68 victory over Stetson on Feb. 16, 2013, at The Bank of Kentucky Center in the last meeting between the two programs.
Stetson held a 68-67 lead after Victoria McGowan made a 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining, but Thacker answered with a trey from out front to give NKU a 70-68 advantage. McGowan's long 3-point attempt was off the mark on Stetson's next possession, and Thacker grabbed the rebound with 10 seconds left.
Thacker was fouled and made a pair of free throws to extend the Norse advantage to 72-68.
Christine Roush added a free throw with two seconds remaining for the final margin as NKU avenged a 62-39 loss at Stetson on Jan. 21, 2013.
Thacker finished with 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, while teammates
Tiara Hopper and
Ellen Holton each scored 15 points. Hopper also grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists. Roush added 13 points and five rebounds for the Norse, who rallied from a 62-55 deficit in the final 6:02 of the game with an 18-6 spurt.
McGowan paced Stetson with 23 points, while Shanasa Sanders added 18 points. The Hatters shot 46.3 percent from the field but were just 9-for-18 at the free-throw line.
NKU won the rebounding battle by a 39-26 margin and made 48.2 percent of its shots from the field. The Norse were 12-for-16 at the free-throw line.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Kayla Thacker recorded her first double-double of the season and third of her career with an 18-point, 12-rebound performance against Lipscomb. The senior guard from Mt. Washington, Ky., has scored in double figures 10 times this season, including a season-high 20 points against Robert Morris in the opening game of the RMU Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 29.
Thacker, the team's lone senior, ranks second on the team in scoring average at 11.1 points per game and rebounding at 5.8 boards per contest. She averages 34.3 minutes per game to lead the Norse, including a 40-minute effort against the Bisons Saturday.
NKU is now 5-1 on the year when a player registers a double-double.
Melody Doss has accomplished the feat five times this season, including 17 points and 12 rebounds against Jacksonville on Jan. 18.
DOUBLE-FIGURE SUCCESS: Christine Roush finished with 13 points against Lipscomb on Saturday to extend her double-figure scoring streak to six games. She started her streak with an 11-point performance against East Tennessee State on Jan. 4 and scored 14 points in the next three Atlantic Sun contests before adding 15 points against Jacksonville on Jan. 18.
This season, the Norse are 8-1 when Roush scores 10 or more points. The sophomore guard from Louisville, Ky., started the season by scoring 13 points against Cincinnati on Nov. 9, and 10 against Illinois State four days later. Roush also reached double digits in a non-conference victory over Tennessee Martin (10) on Nov. 30 at the Robert Morris Thanksgiving Classic.
Roush averages 9.4 points per game for NKU on the year. She leads the Atlantic Sun in free-throw percentage (.913) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.500).
HOT AT HOME: Sarah Kinch finished one point shy of her career high with 15 points against Lipscomb on Saturday. The freshman guard from Medina, Ohio, is averaging 7.4 points in The Bank of Kentucky Center, including her career best 16 points against Kennesaw State on Jan. 11, as opposed to 2.5 points on the road. Kinch is shooting 60.6 percent (20-for-33) from the floor at the home, and she has connected on 11-for-15 from behind the free-throw line.
BLOCK PARTY: NKU recorded a season-high eight blocked shots against Lipscomb on Saturday.
Kaitlyn Gerrety recorded three on the night, while
Kayla Thacker and
Melody Doss each added two.
Christine Roush also rejected one shot.
The Norse rank third in the Atlantic Sun in blocked shots this season, turning away 4.1 attempts per game for a total of 74 on the year. Mercer leads the conference with 100 blocks (5.3 bpg), followed by Stetson's 94 blocked shots (4.9).
FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: The Norse continue to lead the Atlantic Sun in free-throw percentage at 76.2 percent on the year. As a reclassifying institution, NKU is ineligible to be ranked among the national statistics. However, if the Norse were included, they would land 15th nationally. Against conference opponents, NKU is shooting 78.5 percent from the charity stripe, which also tops the Atlantic Sun.
Three Norse players rank among the top 10 in free-throw percentage among Atlantic Sun competitors
Christine Roush tops the conference at 91.3 percent on 42-for-46 shooting, while
Melody Doss ranks third at 85.4 percent (41-for-48).
Lauren White is seventh in the Atlantic Sun at 81.7 percent, having gone 49-for-60 from the free-throw line this season.
THURSDAY PROMOTIONS: Thursday night is Kenton County Night at The Bank of Kentucky Center. Citizens of Kenton County will receive $3 admission to the NKU-Stetson women's game with proof of residency.
