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Sat., Feb. 8
Kennesaw, Ga. – KSU Convocation Center (4,600)
NKU (12-9 overall, 8-2 A-Sun) vs. Kennesaw State (5-16 overall, 3-7 A-Sun)
Series Record: NKU leads 3-0
Last Meeting: NKU 79, KSU 51 (Jan. 11, 2014)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team continues its Georgia road trip by facing Kennesaw State in Atlantic Sun Conference action at 2 p.m. in the KSU Convocation Center on Saturday.
NKU improved to 12-9 overall and 8-2 in the Atlantic Sun after earning a 72-64 victory over Mercer in Hawkins Arena on Thursday evening.
Kayla Thacker, the reigning conference player of the week, led the way for NKU with a game-high 19 points, six rebounds and a career-high five assists.
Kaitlyn Gerrety set career highs in points with 17 and assists with five.
Lauren White added 13 points, and
Melody Doss contributed 10 on the night.
Kennesaw State enters the contest 5-16 on the year and 3-7 in the Atlantic Sun after defeating Lipscomb, 88-79, on Thursday. Kristina Wells finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Owls, while Bria Young added a career-high 18 points. The Owls limited the Lady Bisons to a season-low 16 points in the first half for their largest halftime lead of the year (38-16).
Wells is averaging 16.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game to lead Kennesaw State, while Deandrea Sawyers adds 13.6 points per contest. Wells ranks third in the Atlantic Sun with 130 offensive rebounds (6.2 per game), and Sawyers is knocking down 2.4 shots from long range to rank second in the Atlantic Sun.
As a team, Kennesaw State is limiting its opponents to just 37.3 rebounds per contest, which ranks second in the Atlantic Sun. The Owls are fourth in the conference with a +1.1 rebounding margin by averaging 38.4 boards. Against conference opponents, Kennesaw State is shooting 32.4 percent from behind the 3-point arc to rank third in that category.
Links to live stats, the ESPN3 broadcast and Andrew Kappes' audio broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.
LAST TIME AGAINST KENNESAW STATE: NKU used a 25-6 second-half run to cruise to a 79-51 victory over Kennesaw State at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 11, 2014, in the last meeting between the two programs.
Melody Doss finished with 22 points and five rebounds to lead NKU.
Sarah Kinch scored all of her career-high 16 points in the second half on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and pulled down six rebounds, which was also a career best.
NKU jumped out to an early 7-0 advantage, but Kennesaw State answered behind six straight points from Bria Young. The Norse then used an 11-3 run to take an 18-9 lead midway through the first half with Doss scoring six points during that stretch.
Kennesaw State later used a run of their own (8-0) to climb to within 20-19 with 4:26 remaining in the half, but NKU took a 25-21 advantage into the break. The Norse shot just 26.5 percent from the field in the first half but forced 12 turnovers by the Owls for the halftime lead.
NKU held a 26-25 advantage less than two minutes into the second half before the Norse put together their 25-6 run to blow the game open with a 51-31 lead at the 10:42 mark. NKU eventually built the lead to as many as 31 (74-43), and Kennesaw State would get no closer than 28 the rest of the way.
With 7:29 remaining in the game, the Norse were shooting a blistering 83.3 percent (15-for-18) from the floor after the break, including 4-for-4 from behind the arc, to gain control of the game. NKU ended the game shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and went 8-for-19 from behind the 3-point arc.
The Norse finished with a 41-34 rebounding margin and only turned the ball over seven times on the night. NKU 21 points off of Kennesaw State's 19 miscues.
Roush added 14 points and finished 5-for-7 from the floor, while
Lauren White finished with eight points off the bench for the Norse.
Kaitlyn Gerrety pulled down a game-high nine rebounds as
Kelley Wiegman dished out a career-high six assists.
The Owls placed three players in double figures, led by Deandrea Sawyer's 17 points. Young scored 11 and Lisa Capellan added 10 points and six rebounds for Kennesaw State.
Kristina Wells, who led the Owls in scoring at 13.6 points and rebounding with nine boards per game entering the game, was limited to nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
THACKER LEADING: Kayla Thacker, who became the second NKU player to earn the Atlantic Sun Player of the Week honors on Monday, continued her solid play with a 19-point performance against Mercer on Thursday evening. She knocked down five 3-point field goals, which finished one shy of her career high accomplished against Lipscomb on Feb. 9, 2013, when she put up a career-best 23 points.
A week ago, the senior guard from Mt. Washington, Ky., scored a season-high 22 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Norse as NKU upset FGCU. She finished 8-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc.
Her defensive assignment on the night was the Eagles' Sarah Hansen, the preseason conference player of the year. Hansen, who averaged 13.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game entering the contest, was limited to just six points and four rebounds.
On the year, Thacker is averaging 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, which both rank second on the team.
GERRETY STEPPING UP: Kaitlyn Gerrety scored a career-high 17 points and dished out a personal-best five assists to help NKU defeat Mercer, 72-64, on Thursday evening for one of her best outings of the season. She also grabbed six rebounds and finished 8-for-12 from the floor. The junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, knocked down one 3-pointer and blocked one shot on the night.
Gerrety has raised her scoring average over the past three games to 4.5 on the year and is pulling down 4.0 rebounds per contest.
CAREER NIGHTS: Several players for NKU set career highs against Mercer on Thursday night.
Kayla Thacker dished out five assists, topping her previous best of four which she set multiple times.
Melody Doss also broke her career best in assists with six on the night. Prior to Thursday, Doss' personal high was four, which she achieved against Mercer as well earlier this season.
Kaitlyn Gerrety set career highs in both points (17) and assists (5) Thursday night. Her previous bests were 14 points against Tennessee Martin on Nov. 30 at the Robert Morris Thanksgiving Classic and three assists, which she set twice with the last being at East Tennessee State on Jan. 4 this year.
FROM LONG RANGE: NKU finished one shy of its school record in 3-point field goals on Thursday night against Mercer. The Norse connected on 14 of their 31 shots from long range. The 31 attempts broke the school record, which was previously 28 set in a 56-51 road loss to Missouri-St. Louis on Jan. 24, 2008.
The school record for made 3-point field goals is 15 against Southern Indiana on Jan. 18, 2003. NKU defeated the Eagles, 98-82, in that matchup in Evansville, Ind.
DISHING THE BALL: NKU handed out 24 assists on 27 made shots against Mercer Thursday night. Three players (
Melody Doss,
Kaitlyn Gerrety and
Kayla Thacker) set new career benchmarks in assists. The school record is 34, which NKU accomplished against Bellarmine on Jan. 13, 1979. The Norse defeated the Knights, 90-45, in that game.
IMPRESSIVE RECORDS CONTINUE: With its victory 72-64 over Mercer Thursday night, NKU improved its season record in three separate categories. The Norse improved to 11-1 this season when leading at the half with a 34-30 advantage at the break, while they remained perfect (8-0) when scoring at least 70 points. NKU is now 7-0 on the year when winning the rebounding battle after outrebounding the Bears by a 32-29 margin.
