HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team heads south for a midweek Atlantic Sun Conference matchup against Kennesaw State on Wednesday.
 
Tipoff from Kennesaw, Georgia, is set for 7 p.m.  Links to live stats and the ESPN3 broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com, and be sure to follow @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter for live updates from the KSU Convocation Center as well.
 
NKU improved to 10-6 overall after picking up an 81-70 victory over Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday to open Atlantic Sun play.  Rianna Gayheart scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed a career-best eight rebounds to lead the Norse, and she also dished out six assists.  Christine Roush added 17 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor and a perfect 7-for-7 effort from the free-throw line, while Shar'Rae Davis recorded her third-straight double-figure points performance with 13 off the bench.
 
NKU took a 40-26 advantage into the locker room at the break, but Lipscomb used hot shooting from behind the 3-point arc to eventually cut the Norse advantage to five (65-60) on a Danay Fothergill layup with 4:57 remaining in the game.  NKU, however, answered with a 15-3 run to for an 80-63 lead with 1:12 on the clock to secure the win.
 
ABOUT KENNESAW STATE: The Owls enter Wednesday night 12-4 overall and 1-0 in the Atlantic Sun after defeating South Carolina Upstate, 72-63, on Saturday afternoon.  Deandrea Sawyers finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field and five assists to lead Kennesaw State, while Jasmine McAllister poured in 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds.  Kristina Wells pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and added nine points.
 
Sawyers leads three Owls averaging double-digits, scoring 15.1 points per game to rank second in the Atlantic Sun.  McAllister's 14.6 lands just behind her teammate, while Kristina Wells is adding 11.4 points per contest.  McAllister is recording a double-double with a conference-leading 11.3 rebounds per game, which is good for 11th nationally.  Wells also lands among the top of the national rankings in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.8, coming in at 11th in the country.
 
Head coach Nitra Perry is in her third season with Kennesaw State, and she has compiled a 13-48 record over her first two years.  The team's 12 wins so far this season is just one victory shy of its total of the last two seasons combined.
 
NKU-KENNESAW STATE SERIES: NKU holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series against Kennesaw State.  The Norse won both meetings during the 2012-13 season, taking a 65-49 victory in The Bank of Kentucky Center before holding on for a 55-49 win at Kennesaw State.  Last season, NKU handed the Owls a 79-51 defeat on the Norse home court before suffering a 53-39 setback in the last meeting between the two programs.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST KENNESAW STATE: NKU was unable to overcome a slow first half as Kennesaw State defeated the Norse, 53-39, on Feb. 8, 2014, at the KSU Convocation Center.
 
Kristina Wells scored 16 points and pulled down 14 points to lead the way for the Owls.  She finished 8-for-10 from the free-throw line and collected four assists and four steals as well.  Bria Young added 13 points and four rebounds.
 
Kennesaw State held NKU scoreless during the first five minutes of the game until Sarah Kinch put the Norse on the scoreboard with a free throw at the 14:59 mark.  Kayla Thacker knocked down a jumper just inside the paint for the first field goal for NKU with 6:04 left in the first half to cut the Norse deficit to 12-5 after starting 0-for-16 from the floor.
 
After Kelley Wiegman added a free throw for the Norse, the Owls finished the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 22-6 lead into the break.  Kennesaw State shot 31.0 percent from the floor and forced 10 NKU turnovers for its halftime advantage.
 
The Norse opened the second half with an 8-3 run behind four points each from Christine Roush and Rianna Gayheart to pull to within 25-14 with 14:52 remaining in the game, but the Owls stretched the lead back to 16 (32-16) with 9:25 left on the clock.
 
A 9-3 run cut the NKU deficit to 35-25 with just over six minutes left on the clock, and Thacker later cut the Kennesaw State lead to under double figures at 37-28 with a 3-point field goal.  Wells, however, answered with a trey of her own to push the lead back to 12 (40-28), and the Norse were unable to get any closer than 11 the rest of the way.
 
Thacker pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds and scored nine points to lead NKU, while Christine Roush finished with six points and seven rebounds.
 
EXTRA PASS: Rianna Gayheart is averaging 2.9 assists per game to rank seventh in the Atlantic Sun.  She has dished out a team-high 43 assists this season to land ninth among conference players as well. 
 
Since returning to the starting lineup against Delaware on Dec. 19, the junior guard from Owenton, Kentucky, is dishing out 4.0 assists per contest.  During that span, she has recorded a season-high six assists against both Delaware on Dec. 19 and Saturday night against Lipscomb.  Gayheart ended nonconference action with a five-assist performance against Georgetown (Ky.) on Jan. 6 at The Bank of Kentucky Center.
 
WARMING UP: Shar'Rae Davis has scored in double figures in three-straight contests for the NKU.  Over the last three games, she is averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Norse, who have won six out of their last seven games.  Davis started her streak with a 12-point effort to go with five assists against Wright State on Jan. 3 at The Bank of Kentucky Center before recording a personal NKU-best 14 points versus Georgetown (Ky.) three days later.  On Saturday, Davis chipped in 13 points and five rebounds for the Norse off the bench.
 
In her first season with NKU, the redshirt sophomore from Grand Haven, Michigan, is averaging 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.  She has collected 11 steals, dished out nine assists and blocked one shot for the Norse.
 
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: NKU is 7-2 this season when committing less turnovers than the other team.  The Norse are forcing the other team into 18.8 turnovers per game.  NKU has recorded victories against Illinois State (Nov. 25), Marquette (Dec. 15), Cincinnati (Dec. 17), Delaware (Dec. 19), IUPUI (Dec. 30), Georgetown (Ky.) (Jan. 6) and Lipscomb (Jan. 10) when turning the ball over less than its opponents.
 
Over the last six games, NKU has taken better care of the ball as the Norse have won five of their last six contests.  NKU committed 20.6 turnovers per contest over first 10 games of the season en route to a 5-5 record, but the Norse have since turned the ball over just 12.7 times in the last six games, including season-low eight against IUPUI.
 
UP NEXT: NKU returns to The Bank of Kentucky Center on Saturday as the Norse welcome South Carolina Upstate at 7 p.m.  It will be Shoot Around Saturday where girls through eighth grade and boys through sixth grade can take the court to take a few shots at various baskets around the court after the game.  Players will also be available at the conclusion of the shoot around period for autographs.