HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team heads to the Sunshine State for a Thursday night Atlantic Sun conference contest against North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.
Tipoff from UNF Arena is set for 7 p.m. Links to live stats and the ESPN3 broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com. For live in-game updates, be sure to follow @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter as well.
NKU moved to 11-7 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic Sun on Saturday after defeating South Carolina Upstate, 77-74, at The Bank of Kentucky Center.
Rianna Gayheart once again led the NKU offense with 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor and four assists, and she also collected two assists, two steals and blocked one shot.
Christine Roush finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals for the Norse, while
Kelley Wiegman,
Melody Doss and Kasey Utrecht each added 10 points.
The Norse held a 44-41 advantage at the halftime break after Wiegman hit a buzzer-beating floating jumper. NKU and USC Upstate traded leads in the second half until the Norse defense limited the Spartans to just one free throw over the final 4:07 of the game to turn a 73-70 deficit into the 77-74 victory.
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA: The Ospreys enter Thursday night's contest 9-9 on the year and 0-3 in the Atlantic Sun after falling to Stetson, 67-38, on Saturday afternoon. Paulina Zaveckaite led North Florida with 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the floor and eight rebounds, while Destinee Smith added seven points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Bailey Florin finished with seven boards and dished out three assists for the Ospreys, who committed 22 turnovers on the night that which lead to 33 of Stetson's points.
Smith tops North Florida's offensive effort, averaging 13.6 points and 2.4 assists per game. Zaveckaite adds 8.4 points and a conference leading 10.9 rebounds per game, which also ranks 14th in the nation. Janea Williams has blocked 23 shot attempts to average 1.3 rejections per game to tie for third in the Atlantic Sun with NKU's
Kaitlyn Gerrety.
Head coach Mary Tappmeyer is in her 23rd season at the helm for the Ospreys, becoming North Florida's only women's basketball leader since the team formed in 1991. She boasts 406 collegiate victories, including 311 with the Ospreys.
NKU-NORTH FLORIDA SERIES: NKU holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series against North Florida but the Norse are 1-1 in games played in UNF Arena. The Ospreys claimed a 59-55 victory in the first ever meeting between the two teams on Jan. 2, 2013. NKU evened the series with a 57-44 home victory later in that season. The Norse swept the series meetings a year ago, taking a 57-51 win on the road and a 78-65 victory at The Bank of Kentucky Center.
LAST TIME AGAINST NORTH FLORIDA: Kayla Thacker scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds on Feb. 13, 2014, as NKU defeated North Florida, 78-65, in the last meeting between the two programs.
Thacker knocked down five 3-point field goals on the night, dished out three assists and collected two steals, while
Melody Doss added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Norse.
Christine Roush finished with 15 points as well on 4-for-8 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc.
Kelley Wiegman scored 11 points and went 5-for-7 from the floor.
NKU used a 24-8 run midway through the first half to take a 39-18 lead with 3:07 remaining on the clock. The Norse connected on 9-of-12 shots from the floor and were perfect (4-for-4) from long range during the spurt.
In the opening 20 minutes, NKU went 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) from the field and shot 53.6 percent from behind the 3-point arc. The Norse only committed two turnovers in the first half for a 44-24 advantage at the break.
NKU continued to put the pressure on North Florida in the second half by hitting five of its first eight shot attempts to stretch its lead to 56-32 with 15:39 left in the game. The Ospreys used a 14-5 run to reduce their deficit to 67-51 at the 7:27 mark, but the Norse pushed their lead back to 18 three times with the last coming with 3:13 remaining (73-55). North Florida then slowly chipped away at the NKU lead but could not get any closer than 13 the rest of the way.
Larkira Jones led the way for North Florida with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Brittney Wright added 12 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field, while Destinee Smith finished with 11 points for the Ospreys.
BALANCED EFFORT: Saturday's game against USC Upstate marked NKU's most balanced offensive performance of the season. The Norse finished with seven players with eight or more points, including five in double-figures.
Rianna Gayheart paced the effort with a team-high 13 points, while
Christine Roush added 12 points for NKU.
Melody Doss,
Kasey Uetrecht and
Kelley Wiegman rounded out the double-digit performers with 10 points each.
Kaitlyn Gerrety and
Mikayla Terry each added eight points apiece for the Norse as well.
It marked the first time since NKU's 72-61 victory over Mercer at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 9, 2014, that the Norse placed five players in double-figures. Doss led the NKU offense against the Bears with a 21-point performance. Roush (14),
Kayla Thacker (13),
Lauren White (12) and Wiegman (10) each finished with double-digit efforts as well.
71-POINT THRESHOLD: NKU is 5-0 this season when scoring 71 points or more after putting up 77 points against USC Upstate on Saturday. The Norse opened the season with a 76-55 victory over Delaware State in the Akron Classic on Nov. 14, and also scored 77 points in their win at Marquette (77-68) on Dec. 15. A 78-point performance from NKU capped nonconference play as the Norse defeated Georgetown (Ky.) 78-57 at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 6.
NKU began Atlantic Sun action with its largest point total of the season to date, defeating Lipscomb 81-70 on Jan. 10, before posting a 77-74 victory over USC Upstate a week later.
CLOSE CALLS: NKU is 2-0 this season in games decided by five or less points after rallying for a 77-74 victory over USC Upstate on Saturday. The first close call of the season for the Norse came on Dec. 19 as NKU held on for a 63-58 win over Delaware in Cincinnati's Fifth Third Arena.
NKU is 5-2 when contests are determined by 10 or less points as well. After dropping a seven-point (45-38) decision to Loyola (Chicago) on Nov. 22, the Norse defeated Grand Canyon by seven (52-45) and UNC Greensboro by eight (66-58) in the Navy Classic over the Thanksgiving break. NKU dropped a close 65-59 contest on the road at IPFW on Dec. 6 before holding on for a 77-68 win at Marquette. Kennesaw State rallied for a 66-58 win over NKU before the Norse held on for Saturday's victory.
CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Rianna Gayheart is averaging 15.3 points per game against Atlantic Sun competition to rank third among conference players in league play. She is pulling down 4.3 rebounds and also dishing out 4.0 assists per contest against conference teams as well, improving upon her nonconference statistics. Against nonconference teams, the junior guard from Owenton, Kentucky, added 4.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Norse.
Gayheart currently ranks sixth in the Atlantic Sun in assists per game at 2.9 and seventh in total assists at 49. She is averaging 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and she has collected 15 steals and blocked a pair of opponents' shots.
UP NEXT: NKU stays in Jacksonville for a Saturday matchup against Jacksonville. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. The Norse will then return home for a pair of conference games in The Bank of Kentucky Center next week. NKU will host Stetson on Jan. 29 for County Night, where residents of Boone, Campbell and Kenton County will receive $3 admission with proof of residency. Two days later, the Norse welcome Florida Gulf Coast for Shoot Around Saturday and the second County Night. The Saturday contest will also feature select $1 beverages.
