HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball teams travels to the Sunshine State for a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference contests, starting the trip at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida, on Thursday.
 
Tipoff from Alico Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.  Links to live stats and the ESPN3 broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Fans can also follow @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter for live updates as the game progress as well.
 
NKU enters Thursday's matchup against the conference leader 14-9 overall and 5-3 in the Atlantic Sun after earning a 64-57 victory over Lipscomb at The Bank of Kentucky Center on Saturday.  Melody Doss led the way for the Norse, pouring in 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers.  Shar'Rae Davis added 14 points, one assist and one steal off the bench, while Kasey Uetrecht finished with eight points and Kelley Wiegman recorded an eight-point effort.
 
ABOUT FGCU: The Eagles are 21-2 on the year and a perfect 8-0 in conference action.  Kaneisha Atwater scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out two assists as FGCU defeated Stetson, 61-39, on Saturday.  Jenna Cobb added 10 points, seven boards and five assists as the Eagles knocked down 12 3-point field goals on the night.
 
Whitney Knight leads the FGCU effort, averaging 15.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and she ranks in the top 20 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.442) and made 3-point field goals per game (2.83).  Atwater adds 13.4 points per contest to go along with 4.3 boards and 2.1 assists.  DyTiesha Dunson directs the offense, having collected 82 assists on the season to land third in the conference.
 
As a team, the Eagles are third nationally in made 3-pointers, connecting on 10.3 treys per game.  FGCU is outscoring its opponents by 17.9 points per contest to land 11th in the nation, and the team is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today national polls.
 
NKU-FGCU SERIES: Florida Gulf Coast holds a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series against NKU after claiming a 67-46 victory in The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 31.  The Eagles swept the series meetings during NKU's inaugural NCAA Division I season, defeating the Norse 79-50 in Fort Myers, Florida, before taking a 68-53 victory in The Bank of Kentucky Center.
 
NKU handed FGCU a 63-43 loss on Feb. 1, 2014, to snap FGCU's 44-game regular-season Atlantic Sun winning streak at The Bank of Kentucky Center.  The Eagles avenged the loss at home one month later with a 67-53 win in Alico Arena.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST FGCU: Melody Doss became the 28th member of NKU's 1,000-point club on Jan. 31, but NKU suffered a 67-46 setback against FGCU in Atlantic Sun conference action at The Bank of Kentucky Center.

Doss finished with 15 points, six rebounds and one block for NKU, while Christine Roush added nine points and three rebounds.  Shar'Rae Davis scored six points and pulled down five rebounds off the bench for the Norse as Rianna Gayheart dished out three assists.
 
Whitney Knight led the way for FGCU with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Stephanie Haas added 14 points, eight rebounds, one steal and one assist, while Kaneisha Atwater finished with 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.

The Eagles finished with a 40-31 advantage in rebounds and converted on 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 from the field, going 18-for-49, and finished 4-for-15 (.267) from long range.
 
MOVING UP: With her season-high, 25-point performance against Lipscomb on Saturday, Melody Doss moved up to 27th place on NKU's all-time scorers list.  The senior from Greenwood, Indiana, now boasts 1,027 points, and she needs just eight more points to surpass Karen Creager (2003-07), who finished her four-year career in the Black and Gold with 1,035 points.  Janet Brungs (1978-82) sits in 25th place with 1,041 points, just behind Dana Morningstar's 1,049.
 
Doss averages a team-leading 13.9 points, and she pulls down 4.7 rebounds per game.  She is shooting 41.4 percent (116-for-280) from the floor and 83.9 percent (52-for-62) from the free-throw line, which ranks third in the Atlantic Sun.
 
SOLID SHOWING: Shar'Rae Davis added 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor off the bench on Saturday against Lipscomb to help spark the NKU offense in the second half.  She scored 11 of her 14 points, which equaled her NKU career-high, in the closing 20 minutes to help the Norse overcome a seven-point (35-28), second-half deficit.
 
Less than two minutes after checking in the game in the second stanza against the Lady Bisons, Davis hit a jumper to pull NKU to within 32-28 with 16:42 on the clock.  She later hit a pair of free throws to help extend a Norse run for a 53-45 advantage with just over six minutes left in the game. 
 
The Grand Haven, Michigan, native averages 6.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.  Davis also scored 14 points against Georgetown (Ky.) in The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 6.  She has dished out 21 assists and collected 20 steals, and she is shooting 71.0 percent (22-for-31) from the charity stripe.
 
HOLDING UNDER 60: NKU is 10-1 this season when holding its opponents under 60 points.  The Norse held Delaware State to 55 points in their season opener on Nov. 14 before posting a 59-48 victory over Illinois State five days later.  The only loss when holding the other team under the threshold came on Nov. 22 when Loyola (Chicago) handed NKU a 45-38 defeat.
 
The Norse rebounded with a 52-45 win over Grand Canyon in the Navy Classic on Nov. 28 and held on for a 66-58 victory over UNC Greensboro the next day. The NKU defense also kept Cincinnati (66-52), Delaware (63-58), IUPUI (57-43), Georgetown (Ky.) (78-57), Jacksonville (70-59) and Lipscomb (64-57) under the 60-point threshold as well.
 
UP NEXT: NKU stays in Florida to continue Atlantic Sun play against Stetson on Saturday at 1 p.m.  The Norse will then return to The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 19 for Think Pink Night against Jacksonville at 7 p.m.  Fans will receive discounted admission when they wear their pink apparel. 
 
Two days later, NKU will take a trip down memory lane as the Norse welcome North Florida to Regents Hall for Throw Back Night.  The contest is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m., and it will also be Girl Scout Night, where they receive free admission for wearing their scout uniforms.  Fans are asked to park in Lot T, which is the tiered lot located off University Drive, and will be free.