CINCINNATI – Melody Doss scored 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor to lift the Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team to a 63-58 victory over the University of Delaware on Friday evening at Fifth Third Arena in a neutral-site, nonconference contest.
 
Doss added 11 of her points in the second half to help NKU, which improved to 7-5 with the win, hold off a second-half Delaware (4-5) rally.  She also converted both of her free-throw attempts, grabbed two rebounds and dished out one assist for the Norse.
 
After a Faith Sanders jumper beat the first-half buzzer for a 33-26 NKU halftime lead, back-to-back layups from Doss and Kaitlyn Gerrety opened the second-half scoring and sparked a 10-4 run to give NKU its largest lead of the game at 43-30 with 16:12 remaining.  With the Norse ahead 45-32, Delaware used a 13-3 run over a four-minute span and forced NKU into three turnovers to come to within 48-45 with 10:11 on the clock.
 
The two teams traded baskets over the next five minutes until a 3-pointer from Delaware's Hannah Jardine cut the Norse lead to 56-54 with 4:34 left in the game.  Both teams were held to without a field goal over the next four minutes, but each made trips to the free-throw line with NKU connecting on five and Delaware on two pairs for a 61-58 lead with 24 seconds left.
 
The Blue Hens took their last timeout of the game, and Erika Brown attempted a 3-point shot that was off the mark and went out of bounds to give NKU the ball back.  Delaware applied a press after a Norse timeout and sent Kelley Wiegman to the free-throw line, and she converted both attempts to seal the NKU win.
 
NKU and Delaware stayed close during opening part of the first half until a 6-1 run on a pair of 3-point field goals from Christine Roush and Faith Sanders put the Norse ahead, 22-16, with 8:35 on the clock.  The Blue Hens cut their deficit to three (23-20) on a pair of free throws from Hannah Jardine and a long-jumper from Jodi Salyer less than two minutes later.
 
The Norse eventually pushed their lead back to seven at 29-22 on two successful attempts from the charity stripe by Molly Franson at the 3:41 mark, but Delaware battled back to within three (29-26) once more on four consecutive free throws with just over two minutes on the clock.
 
Kasey Uetrecht extended the NKU advantage to 31-26 with a wide-open layup with 1:12 left in the half, and Sanders knocked down a jumper from the left side of the basket right before the buzzer to give the Norse a 33-26 lead heading into the halftime break.
 
Delaware finished with a slight 37-35 edge in rebounds and pulled down 13 offensive boards, and the Blue Hens scored 11 points on their second chances.  The Norse went 14-for-16 (.875) from the free-throw line, while the Blue Hens converted on 20-of-24 of their attempts.
 
Christine Roush finished with 12 points, a game-high seven rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots for NKU, which shot 45.5 percent (10-for-22) in the second half to finish at 39.3 percent for the game, while Faith Sanders added 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and pulled down four rebounds for the Norse.
 
Jardine led the Delaware effort with 18 points and five rebounds, and Courtni Green added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.  Joy Caracciolo finished with nine points and four rebounds, while Jade Clark pulled down a team-high six boards, scored six points and blocked two shots for the Blue Hens, who shot 35.3 percent (18-for-51) for the game after going 11-for-24 from the floor in the second half.
 
NKU will return to The Bank of Kentucky Center on Dec. 30 to welcome IUPUI to Highland Heights for the first time since the 1995-96 season.  Fans can buy one ticket and get one free by bringing in the special promotional Pepsi can, which outlines the Pepsi BOGO games on the back.  The NKU dance team will perform their nationals routine during halftime of the IUPUI game as well.