HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team travels to Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Saturday as the Norse continue their current five-game road trip at IPFW.
 
Saturday's game time is set for 4:30 p.m.  Links to live stats and an audio and video broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Be sure to follow @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter for live updates as every game progresses this season as well.
 
NKU enters the IPFW contest 4-4 overall after dropping an 82-64 decision to No. 13 Kentucky on Wednesday evening.  The Norse placed four players in double-figures, led by 13-point efforts from both Kaitlyn Gerrety and Christine Roush.  Molly Franson added 12 points, while Melody Doss finished with 11, both on 4-for-6 shooting from the field.  NKU shot 42.0 percent (21-for-50) from the floor but could not overcome 26 turnovers against the Wildcats.
 
ABOUT IPFW: The Mastodons are 3-4 on the year after knocking down school-record tying 16 3-pointers in IPFW's 79-62 win at Chicago State on Thursday evening.  Haley Seibert led all players with a season-high 24 points, including six treys, and she added four assists, one blocked shot and one steal.  Kamilah Carter added 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor, while Courtney Ogle finished with 14 points.

Seibert leads the Mastodons offense, averaging 18.6 points and 2.6 assists per game.  KeShyra McCarver is adding 10.0 points while pulling down a team-high 6.6 rebounds per contest.  Ogle has blocked a team-best eight shots this season, as Rachel Rinehart has collected nine steals.

IPFW head coach Chris Paul entered his 10th season with the Mastodons as the winningest coach in program history.  He held a 109-151 career record, all at IPFW, entering the 2014-15 season.  
 
NKU-IPFW SERIES: NKU holds a 28-7 lead in the all-time series against IPFW.  The two teams met on a twice a season as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference prior to the Mastodons making the NCAA Division I transition in 2001.  The Norse won the first 10 meetings, starting with a 77-67 victory on Feb. 25, 1984, in Regents Hall.
 
IPFW's first win of the series came on Jan. 11, 1990, when the Mastodons defeated NKU, 67-64, in Highland Heights.  In addition to the first 10 victories, the Norse have also won the previous 10 meetings.  The two programs last faced on Feb. 10, 2001, when NKU posted an 82-48 win in Regents Hall.
 
AGAINST THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: NKU is 47-12 all-time against members of the Summit League.  In addition to their 28-7 advantage over IPFW, the Norse also hold winning records against IUPUI (17-1) and South Dakota (1-0).  The series is tied with North Dakota State with each team holding one victory, while South Dakota State is 3-0 over the Norse.
 
NKU faced Summit League members in each of the program's three NCAA Division II national championship games.  In 2000, the Norse defeated North Dakota State, 71-62, in overtime to capture the school's first ever national title.  Three seasons later, NKU faced South Dakota State and dropped a 65-50 decision in the title game.  The Norse earned their second national championship on March 29, 2008 with a 63-58 victory over South Dakota.
 
NKU will face one more Summit League team this season.  On Dec. 30, IUPUI will visit The Bank of Kentucky Center at 7 p.m.  The Norse will enter the contest looking to avenge last season's 86-63 loss to the Jaguars in Indianapolis, Indiana on Dec. 18, 2013.

CHARITY STRIPE SUCCESS: NKU currently ranks third in the Atlantic Sun Conference in free-throw shooting, connecting on 72.2 percent of its attempts as a team from the charity stripe.  The Norse have gone 140-for-194 from the free-throw line through the first eight games of the season.  NKU lands behind Kennesaw State's 75.4 percent (104-for-138), which leads the conference, and just below Lipscomb, which has converted 72.6 percent (85-for-117). On Wednesday, the Norse finished 16-for-18 (.889) from the free-throw line against No. 13 Kentucky.
 
Christine Roush leads the Atlantic Sun in free-throw shooting, going 26-for-29 for 89.7 percent from the charity stripe, and she is followed by Kelley Wiegman's 88.9 percent (16-for-18). Melody Doss is also connecting on over 70 percent of her attempts, ranking 13th among conference players at 76.9 percent (20-for-26).
 
STARTING CONTRIBUTION: NKU's starting five of Shar'Rae Davis, Melody Doss, Kaitlyn Gerrety, Christine Roush and Kelley Wiegman have contributed to 68.8 percent of the team's offense.  They have scored a combined 304 of the Norse's 442 total points this season, and the starters have also pulled down 52.9 percent of the team's rebounds (157-of-297).  Additionally, the starting lineup has also recorded 88.2 percent of NKU's 3-pointers, collecting 30 of the team's 34 made attempts from behind the 3-point arc.
 
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE: Kaitlyn Gerrety has stepped up her contributions over NKU's last two games. She averaged 12.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in games against UNC Greensboro and No. 13 Kentucky.  Gerrety also blocked a total of three shots, while shooting 10-for-16 from floor.  Over the two games, she also dished out four assists and collected five steals.
 
The senior center from Cincinnati, Ohio, recorded the team's first double-double of the season on Saturday against UNC Greensboro with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  She went 4-for-6 from the field and finished with four assists, two blocked shots and four steals.  Against No. 13 Kentucky on Wednesday, Gerrety scored a team-high 13 points, including eight in the second half, and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.
 
Gerrety is averaging 7.3 points per game to rank third for the Norse, and she leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per contest, which lands 10th in the Atlantic Sun.  She also tops the team with 12 blocked shots, including a season-high three against both Loyola (Chicago) and Grand Canyon, and 11 steals.