Game 28 Notes |
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Thurs., March 6
Highland Heights, Ky. – The Bank of Kentucky Center (9,400)
NKU (15-12 overall, 11-5 A-Sun) vs. South Carolina Upstate (15-12 overall, 10-6 A-Sun)
Series Record: NKU leads 3-0
Last Meeting: NKU 76, USCU 60 (Jan. 2, 2014)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team returns to The Bank of Kentucky Center for the final weekend of Atlantic Sun Conference play on Thursday as the Norse host South Carolina Upstate at 7 p.m.
NKU is 15-12 overall and 11-5 in the Atlantic Sun Conference after dropping a 67-53 decision to Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, Fla., on Saturday night.
Melody Doss and
Christine Roush each scored 12 points to lead the way for NKU, with Roush grabbing six rebounds.
Kayla Thacker and
Lauren White both added 10 points against FGCU, as Thacker grabbed seven rebounds.
USC Upstate enters the contest 15-12 overall and 10-6 in the Atlantic Sun after defeating Jacksonville, 68-59, Saturday for the Spartans' senior night. USC Upstate placed five players in double figures, led by Alex Stanford's 17 points. Brittany Clency scored 14 points, while Brittany Starling added 12 points, Toni Romiti finished with 11. Valese McAllister scored 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
On the year, Clency leads the USC Upstate offence, averaging 11.5 points per game, and she has dished out a team-high 68 assists. Starling follows with 10.6 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per contest, while Shelby Hicks has rejected 24 shots on the defensive end of the court to lead the Spartans. Hicks averages 5.9 points, and Stanford adds 9.3 points per game and has collected a team-high 27 steals.
USC Upstate ranks third in the Atlantic Sun in rebounding, as the Spartans pull down 40.5 boards per game. As a team, USC Upstate is holding its opponents to 38.7 percent shooting from the field to rank second in the conference, and the Spartans are limiting the other team to 29.6 percent from behind the 3-point arc to land third in the conference.
Links to live stats, the ASun.TV broadcast and the audio broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.
LAST TIME AGAINST USC UPSTATE: Melody Doss scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead NKU to a 76-60 victory over South Carolina Upstate to open Atlantic Sun play at the G.B. Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C., on Jan 2.
Doss, who scored 14 of her points in the second half after getting in early foul trouble, finished perfect from behind the 3-point arc (3-for-3) and the free-throw line (3-for-3).
Kelley Wiegman topped her then-career high with a 15-point effort and collected five rebounds and four assists. She went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line and only turned the ball over once.
NKU used a 12-0 run to jump out to an early 15-3 advantage with 14:35 left in the first half, but USC Upstate was able to slowly chip away at the lead. The Spartans used a 7-2 spurt to close the half, and the Norse took a 34-33 advantage into the break.
Doss scored 10 of NKU's first 14 points of the second half and sparked a 22-5 run for a 56-38 lead to take control of the game with 9:24 remaining. The Norse would eventually stretch their lead to 24 (70-46) with 5:03 left, and the Spartans would get no closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Brittany Starling led the Spartans with 15 points and seven rebounds. Brittany Clency added 14 points, while Toni Romiti and Alex Stanford each finished with nine points. Travonda Haddock and Valese McAllister each pulled down seven rebounds for USC Upstate.
Lauren White finished with 10 points off the bench, while
Christine Roush scored nine points for the Norse.
Kayla Thacker added eight points and
Kaitlyn Gerrety pulled down nine rebounds.
The Norse finished with a 39-36 rebounding advantage, and NKU forced 18 turnovers by USC Upstate and shot 43.1 percent from the field on the night.
GETTING AHEAD: NKU is 6-3 this season when winning the tip and 14-2 when leading at the halftime break. On Saturday, Florida Gulf Coast pulled down the opening tip, but the Eagles missed a jumper on their first possession. NKU answered with a basket by
Christine Roush to take the first lead of the game. FGCU eventually jumped out to a 22-17 lead in the opening 20 minutes, but the Norse closed the half with 13-7 run for their 16th halftime lead of the season.
The only other advantage at the break NKU did not hold was at Butler on Dec. 15. The Norse were ahead 27-23 at the half, but the Bulldogs outscored NKU, 30-20, in the second half for a 53-47 victory in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
When winning the opening tip, the Norse have earned victories over Cincinnati (Nov. 9), Illinois State (Nov. 13), USC Upstate (Jan. 2), Kennesaw State (Jan. 11), North Florida (Feb. 13) and Jacksonville (Feb. 15).
EVEN REBOUNDING: For the first time this season, NKU finished the battle of the boards tied with Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday evening. NKU pulled down 36 rebounds, led by
Kayla Thacker's seven, while Sarah Hansen pulled down 10 of FGCU's 36.
The Norse are 8-1 this season when outrebounding their opponents, with the only loss coming against Kennesaw State on Feb. 8 in Kennesaw, Ga. On the other hand, NKU is 7-10 on the year when its opponents pull down more boards than the Norse.
POSITIVE SCORING MARGIN: NKU is averaging 64.4 points per game while holding its opponents to 63.4 for a +1.0 scoring margin, which ranks third in the Atlantic Sun. Stetson leads the conference at +14.5 (80.8 ppg vs. 66.3 ppg), followed by Florida Gulf Coast's +10.4 (69.7 ppg vs. 59.3 ppg). The Norse are outscoring their Atlantic Sun counterparts by a 3.2 margin, having averaged 65.2 points per game to the other team's 62.0.
BACK TO THE BEGINNING: NKU opened Atlantic Sun Conference play this season the same way the Norse are ending. On Jan. 2, NKU traveled to USC Upstate before facing East Tennessee State in Johnson City, Tenn., two days later.
After the Norse defeated the Spartans, 76-60, in Spartanburg, S.C., NKU put together one of its best halves of the season in the opening stanza against ETSU for a 43-24 lead at the break. The Norse held off a second-half rally by the Bucs for a 73-63 victory to start conference play undefeated.
LOOKING FOR 16: With two games to go in the season, the Norse need just one more win to eclipse the total victories NKU achieved during its 2012-13 season and set a new benchmark in its NCAA Division I era. The Norse finished their inaugural year competing at the Division I level last season with a 15-13 overall record.
Last season, NKU earned a berth to the Women's Basketball Invitational after finishing the regular season with a 15-12 mark. The Norse ended the season with a 72-70 loss to the College of Charleston at The Bank of Kentucky Center. NKU enters the final weekend of play looking to earn its second straight postseason tournament bid since beginning the transition.
THURSDAY'S PROMOTION: NKU's game against USC Upstate will be Blackout the Bank Night presented by Toppers Pizza at The Bank of Kentucky Center. Free black t-shirts will be given to the first 200 students in attendance.
