HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – A memorable evening unfolded for Northern Kentucky University's Melody Doss as she became the 28th member of the 1,000-point club in a 67-46 setback against Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday evening in Atlantic Sun conference action.
 
Doss finished with 15 points, six rebounds and one block for NKU, which fell to 13-9 overall and 4-3 in the Atlantic Sun. She was aided by Christine Roush's nine points and three rebounds, while Shar'Rae Davis scored six points and pulled down five rebounds for the Norse.
 
Whitney Knight led the way for FGCU, which improved to 20-2 on the year and 7-0 in the conference with the victory, with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Helping her was Stephanie Haas with 14 points, eight rebounds, one steal and one assist and Kaneisha Atwater's 11 points and four assists.  Jenna Cobb rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Eagles with a 10-point effort to go along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
Knight came out firing early for FGCU, converting on two early 3-point attempts, but her points were matched by Doss, who recorded the first six points for the Norse, to tie the game at 6-all with 16:59 remaining in the first half. A Roush jumper put the Norse ahead, 8-6, after a missed Cobb 3-pointer on the other end of the court.
 
NKU stretched its lead to 10-6 on a Roush jumper and Doss layup before a 16-2 run by the Eagles, led by seven points from Knight, gave FGCU a 22-12 advantage with exactly seven minutes on the clock. 
 
Doss broke a nine-minute scoring drought for the Norse with a 3-pointer at the 6:35 mark on the next NKU possession, and a driving layup from Shar'Rae Davis brought the Norse to within 22-17 with 3:55 left in the opening stanza. Both teams struggled to score to close the half, but a buzzer-beating layup by DyTiesha Dunson gave FGCU a 29-21 lead at the halftime break.
 
The Eagles shot 32.3 percent (10-for-31) from the field in the first half and went 7-for-10 from behind the 3-point arc.  NKU went 9-for-24 (.375) but only hit one shot from long range in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Atwater stretched the FGCU lead back to 10 (31-21) with a layup to open the second half scoring, before Doss stepped to the free-throw line at the other end of the court and entered the 1,000 point club with two successful attempts to cut the Norse deficit to 31-29 with 19:12 left to play.
 
A 7-0 run courtesy of five Kelley Wiegman points brought the Norse within three (33-30) until a triple by Cobb at 16:02 brought the FGCU advantage back to 36-30.
 
Roush, who struggled with foul trouble throughout the game, turned it on in the second half, helping to bring some energy with five points in the first part of the second stanza, but it was not enough to push the Norse on to a run before she picked up her fourth foul at 11:56. FGCU went on a 12-0 run spanning over five minutes late in the game to close out the victory.
 
FGCU finished with a 40-31 advantage in rebounds and converted 39.3 percent (24-for-61) of its attempts from the floor, including a 46.7 percent (14-for-30) performance in the second half.  NKU shot 36.7 percent, going 18-for-49, and went 4-for-15 (.267) from long range.
 
NKU will conclude its current homestand on Saturday, Feb. 7 with its homecoming game against Lipscomb as the first half of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team.  The women's game will tip off at 4 p.m.