FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The IPFW women's basketball team held off a second-half rally by Northern Kentucky University for a 65-59 nonconference victory at the Gates Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Haley Siebert led the IPFW effort with 19 points, including 14 in the second half, and finished a perfect 14-for-14 from the free-throw line.  Rachel Rinehart added 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting and grabbed four rebounds, while Keanna Gary finished with 12 points and a game-high nine boards for the Mastodons (4-4).
 
IPFW took a 37-24 advantage into the locker room at the halftime break and used an 8-3 run to open the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 45-27 with 15:04 left in the game.  NKU (4-5) slowly chipped away at the IPFW advantage, however, and a 6-0 run on a 3-pointer and three free throws from Kelley Wiegman pulled the Norse with within 11 (50-39) at the 9:40 mark.
 
IPFW pushed its advantage back to 15 (54-39) with 6:51 remaining before Roush connected on eight consecutive free throws to cut the Norse deficit under double-digits at 56-47 less than three minutes later.  Melody Doss brought NKU to within 56-49 with a fast-break layup, and the Norse defense forced their second-straight Mastodons turnover on the other end of the court.
 
Gerrety connected on a pair of attempts from the charity stripe on the next Norse possession to make it a 56-51 ballgame with 2:32 left on the clock.  Siebert hit two free throws, and Doss followed suit with just over a minute remaining.

Reinhart then went 1-for-4 from the line on the next IPFW possession before Rianna Gayheart made it a four-point (59-55) game with 24 seconds remaining.  After free throws from both teams, a Gayheart layup the Mastodons held a 63-59 advantage with just 13 seconds left, but Siebert connected on two more attempts from the free-throw line to seal the victory for IPFW.
 
The first half saw four ties and five lead changes before a 9-0 run gave IPFW a 25-17 lead with 6:53 left in the opening stanza.  Layups from Christine Roush and Kaitlyn Gerrety maintained the eight-point Mastodons advantage, but IPFW scored seven of the last eight points of the half for its 37-24 halftime advantage.
 
IPFW outrebounded the Norse by a 37-31 margin, but 16 of NKU's boards were on the offensive end of the court.  The Mastodons shot 42.9 percent (21-for-49) from the field, including a 58.3 percent (14-for-24) effort in the first half.  The Norse forced IPFW into 20 turnovers and were able to create 18 points off those opportunities.
 
Doss finished with 18 points and four rebounds to lead NKU, which placed four players in double-figures.  Wiegman chipped in 11 points and went 3-for-3 from the charity stripe, while Roush added 11 points, including a 9-for-10 performance from the free-throw line, four rebounds and two steals.  Gerrety rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Norse with 10 points, and she pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
 
NKU takes the week off to prepare for final exams before concluding its five-game road trip at Marquette on Monday, Dec. 15.  Tipoff from Al Maguire Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is set for 8 p.m. Eastern.  Links to live stats and the video broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Follow @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter for in-game updates this season as well.