AKRON, Ohio – Melody Doss and Faith Sanders combined for 27 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team to a 76-55 victory over Delaware State University in the opening game of the Akron Classic on Friday afternoon.
 
Doss finished with 18 points, including 15 in the second half, and seven rebounds to lead NKU (1-0).  She also blocked three shots in the season opener for both teams, while Sanders added nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Norse in her collegiate debut.
 
"I thought Mel did a very good job of defending and rebounding in this game and on the offensive end she took advantage of some good opportunities," NKU head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said.  "But, what I was most excited about was her ability to clean up the glass.  I also think that Faith came in and provided a lot of ability to grab rebounds for us, and that was a pretty good key for us today."
 
Christine Roush gave the Norse a 2-0 lead before the game tipped off when she converted on a pair of free throws after Delaware State was assessed a technical foul for an error in the official scorer's book.  NKU jumped out to an early 13-5 advantage before Delaware State cut its deficit to four at 13-9 with 16:23 remaining in the half.  The Norse then used a 6-0 run to push to a 10-point lead (19-9) with just under 14 minutes left.
 
The Hornets (0-1) slowly chipped away at the Norse lead, cutting it to five halfway through the opening stanza, but a 7-2 run over a three-minute span stretched the NKU advantage back to double-digits (31-19) at the 4:03 mark.  The Norse eventually took a 35-24 advantage into the halftime break.
 
Doss opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers and a pair of free throws by Roush put NKU ahead 43-24 with 17:32 left in the game.  The Norse eventually took their largest lead of the game at 64-42 with 6:45 remaining, and Delaware State did not get any closer than 18 the rest of the way.
 
Roush scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds for the Norse, and she also connected on eight of her 10 attempts from the free-throw line.  Kelley Wiegman added seven points and dished out six assists, which tied her career high.
 
Kaitlyn Gerrety added seven points and seven rebounds, and Mikayla Terry finished with eight points and eight rebounds in her Norse debut.  Terry went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line and collected two assists and two steals for NKU.
 
"I thought they really competed right from the beginning of the game," Plitzuweit said.  "I thought our effort and intensity was really good today, and that is going to have to continue because we play against a very good Akron team tomorrow that advanced to the NCAA tournament last season.  That aspect has to be brought again."
 
The Norse outrebounded the Hornets by a 46-35 margin, and they forced Delaware State into 13 turnovers.
 
Tierra Hawkins led the Delaware State offense with 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the floor, and she went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line.  Raven Bankston added 11 points, while Amber Bogard scored 10 points for the Hornets.
 
Bri Justice pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while Hawkins and Jade Washington each finished with six boards apiece.
 
NKU wraps up the two-day tournament on Saturday as the Norse take on host Akron at 3:30 p.m.  Links to live stats and the video broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Be sure to follow @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter for live updates this season as well.