Atlantic Sun Postseason Notes |
Game 31 Notes |
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Sat., March 22
Charleston, S.C. – TD Arena (5,100)
NKU (18-12 overall, 13-5 A-Sun) vs. College of Charleston (18-14 overall, 9-7 Colonial)
Series Record: College of Charleston leads 1-0
Last Meeting: College of Charleston 72, Northern Kentucky 70 (March 20, 2013)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team travels to Charleston, S.C., for the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitational to take on the College of Charleston on Saturday at 7 p.m in the TD Arena.
NKU improved to 18-12 overall on Thursday with an 84-72 victory over McNeese State in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
Kayla Thacker scored a career-high 25 points to lead the way for the Norse, who captured their first postseason victory since beginning the NCAA Division I transition.
Lauren White added 16 points, while
Melody Doss and
Kaitlyn Gerrety each finished with 12.
Sarah Kinch dished out a career-high four assists and scored eight points for NKU, which is the No. 3 seed in the West Region.
The College of Charleston, the West Region's No. 2 seed, advanced to the second round for the second straight season after defeating Atlantic Sun Conference member South Carolina Upstate, 85-71, on Thursday evening. Alyssa Frye scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Cougars improved to 18-14 on the year. Mikaela Hopkins finished with 17 points and three blocked shots, while Afreyea Tolbert added 10 points and eight rebounds. Breanna Bolden pulled down a game-high 12 boards for the College of Charleston against the Spartans.
Frye and Tolbert lead the Cougar offense as each averages 14.3 points per game. They both earned All-Colonial Athletic Association postseason honors with Tolbert earning first-team honors and Frye being named to the second team. Tolbert led the College of Charleston with 8.9 rebounds per game, which ranked second in the CAA, as Bolden added 8.1 points and 5.4 rebounds to receive CAA All-Rookie Team accolades. Hopkins was named to the CAA All-Defensive Team after rejecting a team-high 59 shots on the year. Jillian Brown directs the Cougar offense and has dished out a conference-leading 168 assists this season for an average of 5.3 per contest.
The College of Charleston ranks second in the CAA in several categories. The Cougars average 69.6 points per game and 44.3 rebounds for second place among their conference opponents, as does the team's 97 blocked shots. The College of Charleston averages 9.1 steals per game to land behind William & Mary's 10.7. The Cougars top the CAA in turnover margin, forcing the other team into 17.7 miscues per game to their 14.6 for a +3.06 margin.
Links to live stats and a free video feed, courtesy of the Charleston Sports Network on UStream, will be available at nkunorse.com.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE COUGARS: The College of Charleston won the only previous meeting against NKU, a 72-70 victory over the Norse in the first round of the WBI on March 20, 2013, at The Bank of Kentucky Center.
Alyssa Frye scored all 20 of her points in the second half, including a crucial 3-pointer with 1:31 remaining in the game, to lead the Cougars past the Norse. Frye buried six shots from 3-point range after halftime as the Cougars advanced to the second round.
The College of Charleston took a 33-32 lead over NKU into the halftime break and used a 19-4 run to stretch their advantage to 52-36 with 13:26 remaining in the game. The Norse, however, used a 17-5 spurt of their own to pull to within four (57-53) with 6:16 left on the clock.
The two teams traded points over the next few minutes, and NKU only trailed by two (70-68) with just over a minute remaining to play. The Cougars held off the Norse rally with a pair of free throws to pull out the win.
Ellen Holton led NKU with 21 points and three blocked shots, while
Kayla Thacker scored 15 points and added two blocks.
Tiara Hopper finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for the Norse.
ABOUT THE WBI: The Women's Basketball Invitational is a 16-team postseason tournament that takes place over two weeks with each game being played at campus sites. The first tournament was held at the conclusion of the 2009-10 season to provide a choice for women's teams who did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. Past winners include Appalachian State, UAB, Minnesota and last year's champion Detroit.
AGAINST THE COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: NKU is 1-2 all-time against members of the CAA, with all three meetings coming over the last two seasons. The Norse enter Saturday's contest looking to avenge last year's 72-70 loss to the College of Charleston in the first round of the WBI, and NKU has split a pair of games with UNC Wilmington as well.
Kayla Thacker scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Norse to a 71-55 victory over UNCW on Dec. 20, 2012, but the Seahawks evened the all-time series with a 65-62 win earlier this season.
Melody Doss led NKU with 24 points, three assists and two blocked shots, while
Rianna Gayheart added 16 points, two assists and two steals.
SIMILAR FOES: NKU and the College of Charleston have played three of the same teams this season: Kennesaw State, South Carolina Upstate and UNC Wilmington. The Cougars earned wins in each matchup, defeating Kennesaw State, 87-66, to open their season, and USC Upstate twice (75-71 on Nov. 17 and 85-71 on Thursday). The College of Charleston completed the season sweep of UNCW by holding on for an 85-77 win on March 5 after cruising to a 67-53 victory on Feb. 20.
In addition to a 65-62 loss to UNCW on Nov. 16, NKU split the season series with Kennesaw State, with the Norse defeating the Owls,79-51, at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 11. Kennesaw State, however, got its revenge later in the season with a 53-39 victory. NKU won both meetings with USC Upstate (76-60 on Jan. 2 and 71-58 on March 6).
THACKER THRIVING: Kayla Thacker, NKU's lone senior, is showing she is not ready for her collegiate career to be over just yet. The second-team All-Atlantic Sun Conference honoree scored a career-high 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out three assists to lead the Norse to an 84-72 victory over McNeese State on Thursday night.
Thacker has scored in double figures in each of the last eight NKU games and averaged 16.1 points in that timespan as well. She shot 47.1 percent from the floor and connected on 20 shots from 3-point range. Over the last eight games, Thacker has pulled down 7.8 rebounds per game, including eight against McNeese State on Thursday.
This season, Thacker averages 13.1 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds per contest. She leads the team in 3-pointers made (59), rebounds (199), offensive rebounds (55) and minutes played (1,105). For her performance on the court and in the classroom, she was named to the Academic All-Atlantic Sun team for the second consecutive year in addition to her all-conference accolades.
REACHING MILESTONES: NKU head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit recorded her 150th career victory with NKU's 84-72 victory over McNeese State on Thursday. Plitzuweit, who is in her second season with the Norse, helped ensure NKU's 31st consecutive winning season with a win against Lipscomb on Feb. 22. She guided the Norse to their second straight berth to the Women's Basketball Invitational this season after finishing the regular season with a 17-12 record. Overall, Plitzuweit now owns a 150-64 career record after spending five seasons as the head coach at Grand Valley State University where she led the Lakers to four postseason berths, including the 2005-06 NCAA Division II national championship.
LONG RANGE SUCCESS: NKU finished 10-for-14 from behind the 3-point arc Thursday night against McNeese State. It marked the fifth time this season the Norse knocked down 10 or more shots from long range this season, including a season-high 14 against Mercer on Feb. 6. The 14 treys fell just one shy of the school record of 15 set against Southern Indiana on Jan. 18, 2003.
NKU is shooting 33.1 percent from 3-point range, which ranks third in the Atlantic Sun.
Christine Roush and
Melody Doss each land in the top five among the conference in 3-point shooting. Roush ranks second, having connected on 43.2 percent from long range, while Doss is fifth at 38.6 percent.
FIRST-HALF PERFORMANCE: After taking a 46-26 lead into the break against McNeese State on Thursday, NKU improved to 17-2 this season when leading at the half. The only halftime leads the Norse have been unable maintain in the second half were against Butler on Dec. 15, when the Bulldogs outscored NKU 30-20 in the second for a 53-47 victory, and Florida Gulf Coast on March 1, as the Eagles overcame a 30-29 deficit for a 67-53 win.
NKU shot 62.5 percent from the floor and a perfect 8-for-8 from behind the arc to take build its 20-point halftime advantage on Thursday. It marked the second-best first half of the season for the Norse. NKU connected on 66.7 percent of its attempts from the field against IUPUI on Dec. 18 but could not rally in the second half for the win.
UP NEXT FOR THE WINNER: The winner of the NKU/College of Charleston game will face the winner of the matchup between No. 4 seed Stephen F. Austin and No. 8 seed Boise State on either March 26 or 27. The Norse have never faced either team.
