HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team begins the 2014-15 season at James A. Rhodes Arena for the two-day Akron Classic this weekend.
 
NKU will face Delaware State on Friday to kick things off before facing host Akron on Saturday.  Both games are scheduled for 3:30 p.m.  Links to live stats for both days and Saturday's video broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Fans that cannot be in Akron, Ohio, for the weekend's events can follow @NKUNorseGameDay for live updates this season as well.
 
NKU returns four starters and eight players from last season's squad that finished 18-13 overall and posted a 13-5 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference.  Among the returnees are seniors Melody Doss and Kaitlyn Gerrety, who each received preseason conference awards.  Doss, a 6-foot forward from Greenwood, Indiana, was named to the preseason All-Atlantic Sun team and the fan-voted Player of the Year after leading the team with 15.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in 2013-14. 
 
Gerrety, a 6-foot-1 center from Cincinnati, Ohio, received the fan-voted preseason Defensive Player of the Year honor.  Last season, she averaged 5.4 points and 4.7 rebounds for the Norse.  She blocked 35 shots and collected 20 steals as well.
 
ABOUT DELAWARE STATE: The Hornets posted an 8-21 overall record and a 3-13 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season.  Delaware State brings back three starters and six letterwinners from its 2013-14 team, including its top two scorers.
 
Sophomore guard Raven Bankston returns for her second season with the Hornets after leading the team in scoring at 21.3 points per game, and she pulled down 3.3 rebounds as well.  Redshirt-senior forward Tierra Hawkins averaged a double-double in 2013-14, pouring in 20.7 points and 10.2 rebounds a contest. 
 
Head coach Tamika Louis will begin her third season leading the Hornets on Friday evening.  She holds an 18-42 career record over her only two seasons as a head coach.
 
NKU and Delaware State have never faced each other in women's basketball.
 
AGAINST THE MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: NKU has faced just one Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member in the program's 40-year history.  The Norse are 1-0 all-time against Norfolk State, taking a 76-64 victory over the Spartans in the Perkins Classic at Regents Hall on Dec. 20, 1985.
 
ABOUT AKRON: The Zips went 23-10 on the 2013-14 season and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament after claiming the Mid-American Conference Tournament title with a 79-68 win over Ball State.  Akron returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last year's team, but the Zips must look to replace their top three scorers and rebounders.
 
Junior guard Anita Brown returns for her junior year after averaging 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season.  Sophomore guard Hannah Plybon is back after scoring 7.1 points and dishing out 2.0 assists per contest.  The Zips add six freshmen and North Carolina State transfer Therany Dunnigan, who missed the 2013-14 season due to NCAA transfer rules. 

Head coach Jodi Kest readies for her ninth season at Akron.  She has posted a 120-130 (.480) record with the Zips, and she owns a 346-283 (.550) career record over 22 total seasons.
 
AGAINST THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE: NKU is 8-9 all-time against members of the Mid-American Conference.  The Norse won the only meeting against Akron during the 1982-83 season, an 89-84 overtime victory in Regents Hall.  NKU is 0-1 against both Bowling Green and Kent State, and the series are even with Miami (Ohio) (6-6) and Ball State (1-1).
 
PRESEASON PREDICTION: NKU was chosen to finish third in both the Atlantic Sun coaches and media preseason poll, behind Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson, resembling the final standings from the 2013-14 season.  FGCU received six first-place votes and a total of 62 points from the coaches to take the top spot in the early poll, while Stetson collected the final two votes for first place to go with 58 points for second place.
 
The Norse have exceeded preseason expectations in their first two season in the Atlantic Sun.  One year ago, the team was picked to finish fourth but ended the season in third place.  At the beginning of the 2012-13, NKU was predicted to land seventh, but the Norse were fourth in their first season in the conference.
 
OPENING DAY SUCCESS: NKU is 29-11 all-time in season-opening games after posting a 77-61 win over Cincinnati at The Bank of Kentucky Center last season.  The Norse have won eight out of their last nine openers.  When starting the season on the road, NKU holds an 11-5 record.
 
RETURNING PRODUCTION: NKU returns eight members from last season that helped the Norse post their 31st consecutive winning season with an 18-13 overall record.  In addition, NKU brings back more than half of its scoring and rebounding production.
 
The Norse welcome back 67.5 percent (1355-2007) of its scoring, including three of the team's top five scorers from last season.  Senior forward Melody Doss topped NKU in 2013-14, averaging 15.1 points per game, while junior guard Christine Roush added 9.0 points per contest.  Sophomore guard Kelley Wiegman returns for her second season with the Norse after contributing 6.7 per game, and senior center Kaitlyn Gerrety averaged 5.4 points.  Junior guard Rianna Gayheart (4.3 ppg), sophomore guard Sarah Kinch (3.6 ppg) and junior forward Courtney Roush (0.9 ppg) also return for the Norse.
 
NKU also brings back 70.7 percent (774-1094) of its rebounding production, led by Doss' 6.6 boards per game.  Gerrety grabbed 4.7 rebounds per contest, while Wiegman pulled down 3.4.  Christine Roush also averaged over three rebounds, grabbing 3.3 boards per game for the Norse.
 
NEW ADDITIONS: Five new additions to the 2014-15 roster look to make an immediate impact this season for NKU.  Shar'Rae Davis, a transfer from Youngstown State, will be eligible to make her Norse debut in NKU's home opener on Nov. 22 against Loyola (Chicago) at The Bank of Kentucky Center.  Davis averaged 9.6 points and 4.0 rebounds as a freshman, and she dished out 143 assists, which was the second-most produced by a freshman in Penguins history.
 
The Norse also added four freshmen this season: Molly Franson, Faith Sanders, Mikayla Terry and Kasey Uetrecht.  Franson, a 6-foot-2 forward/center from Tinley Park, Illinois, averaged 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game as a senior, and she earned all-conference and fourth-team all-state honors in her final season.
 
Sanders, a 5-foot-11 forward from Savannah, Georgia, scored 20.5 points and pulled down 15.4 rebounds per game last season.  She also collected 3.8 steals and dished out 2.8 assists to help her earn first-team All-Region 3 Class AAAAA honors over her final two seasons.
 
Terry, a 5-foot-11 forward from Lansing, Michigan, also averaged a double-double as a senior, adding 15.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per contest.  She shot 48.1 percent from the floor, including 38.3 percent from behind the 3-point arc, and she received first-team all-area, all-district, all-region and all-state honors as a senior.
 
Uetrecht, a 6-foot-1 forward from Clarksville, Ohio, scored 13.0 points and grabbed 8.3 rebounds in her final season with Clinton Massie High School.  She averaged 2.2 assists per contest and connected on 48.7 percent of her attempts from the floor in 2013-14.  Uetrecht earned first-team All-South Central Ohio League, Division II Southwest District and Division II-IV All-Cincinnati honors as a senior and received honorable mention all-state accolades in her final season as well.
 
ABOUT THE HEAD COACH: NKU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit recorded her 150th career victory with NKU's 84-72 Women's Basketball Invitational victory over McNeese State on March 20, 2014, which marked the first D-I postseason win by any Norse program.  Plitzuweit, who is entering her third season with the Norse, helped ensure NKU's 31st-consecutive winning season with a win against Atlantic Sun foe Lipscomb during the 2013-14 season, and she is 33-26 overall at NKU.
 
She guided the Norse to their second straight berth to the WBI last season to finish the year with an 18-13 record.  Overall, Plitzuweit owns a 150-64 career record after spending five seasons as the head coach at Grand Valley State University where she led the Lakers to four postseason berths, including the 2005-06 NCAA Division II national championship.
 
OVER THE HILL: This marks the 41st season of competition for the Norse women's basketball program. NKU is 842-333 (.717) all-time since beginning play during the 1974-75 season, including 31-consecutive winning seasons.  The Norse are 33-26 as an NCAA Division I program and hold a 25-11 mark in the Atlantic Sun.  At the Division II level, NKU won national championships in 2000 and '08.