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DELAND, Fla. – Amber Porter scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Stetson University women's basketball team to a 74-57 victory over Northern Kentucky University in the Edmunds Center on Thursday in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
Porter shot 11-for-14 from the floor and blocked three shots to lead Stetson, which improved to 23-5 overall and 15-1 in the Atlantic Sun. Sasha Sims converted each of her seven free-throw attempts and came off the bench to score 12 points, while Cherisse Burris and Jama Sharp each added 11. C.J. Coddington finished with 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers for the Hatters.
Melody Doss finished with 15 points and went 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc to lead NKU, which fell to 15-11 on the year and 11-4 in the conference.
Kayla Thacker scored 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while
Kaitlyn Gerrety added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
NKU used a 12-3 run to take a 20-10 advantage in the first half with 12:58 left behind 3-pointers from Thacker, Doss and
Lauren White. Stetson, however, countered with a 13-2 spurt to take the lead at 23-22 with 8:14 remaining. Both teams then traded baskets over the remainder of the opening stanza, and Stetson took a 33-31 advantage into the break on a 3-pointer by Coddington with 31 seconds on the clock.
With Stetson holding a 36-33 lead early in the second half, Doss drained a 3-pointer to tie the game before Stetson used a 16-0 run, led by five points from Burris and four from Porter, to push its advantage to 52-36 with 12:26 left in the game.
A quick 8-1 run by NKU, capped by another Doss 3-pointer, cut the Hatter lead to nine (53-44) at the 11:28 mark, but Stetson responded with 12 straight points for a 65-44 advantage with 6:48 remaining.
Thacker's 3-pointer from the corner stopped the Norse scoring drought with 5:50 to go, but NKU would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way, the last coming with 2:10 left in the game at 69-57 on a layup by White.
"Stetson is a very good team, especially when playing at home," NKU head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit said. "I thought in the first half our players did a good job defensively by taking away some of their penetration, and we kept them away from the rim. In the second half, we weren't able to keep them away from the rim."
Sims dished out five assists for Stetson, while Coddington and Brianti Saunders each collected four. Sharp finished with two blocked shots, and Burris added three steals on the night as the Hatters forced the Norse into 17 turnovers.
Stetson shot 48.2 percent from the field, including a 13-for-26 effort in the second half, and outrebounded NKU by a slight 37-36 margin. The Hatters knocked down five 3-pointers but went just 15-for-23 from the charity stripe.
Christine Roush scored all eight of her points in the first half for the Norse, who shot 35.6 percent from the floor and connected on eight 3-point field goals. White added five points and five rebounds.
NKU returns to action on Saturday against Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, Fla., at 7:05 p.m. The Norse look to complete the season sweep after handing the Eagles a 63-43 loss to snap their 44-game regular season Atlantic Sun winning streak at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Feb. 1. Links to the live stats, the ESPN3 broadcast and Andrew Kappes' broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.
"Florida Gulf Coast has been the reigning champions in our conference for a number of years now, and they are the No. 1 team for a reason and Stetson is right there with them," Plitzuweit said. "We are facing two outstanding opponents on the road in front of hostile crowds. Florida Gulf Coast is a team that is able to space the floor very well and a team that is going to be a big challenge for us."
