HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team concludes its Atlantic Sun Conference trip in the Sunshine State with a 1 p.m. contest against Stetson on Saturday in the Edmonds Center in DeLand, Florida.
 
Links to live stats and the ESPN3 broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Fans can follow @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter for live updates as the game progresses as well.
 
NKU enters the Stetson contest 14-10 overall and 5-4 in the Atlantic Sun after suffering a 75-47 setback to Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday evening.  Melody Doss led the way for the Norse with 13 points, four rebounds and one steal.  She finished 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc, including a pair in the first two minutes of the game to build an early lead for NKU.  Molly Franson finished with six points, a team-high six rebounds and two assists, while Courtney Roush also added six points off the bench for NKU as well.
 
ABOUT STETSON: The Hatters improved to 17-6 on the year and 6-3 in the Atlantic Sun with a 103-75 victory over Lipscomb on Thursday evening.  Brianti Saunders poured in 33 points on 13-for-17 shooting from the floor to lead Stetson, while Sarah Sagerer put up career-high numbers with 23 points and 18 rebounds as she received her first start of the season, replacing an injured Amber Porter.  Jama Sharp added 19 points and Myeisha Hall scored 13 to round out the double-digit performers.
 
The Hatters boast four players averaging in double figures, led by Saunders' 14.4 points per game.  Sharp and Porter are each adding 13.3 points per contest, while Porter leads the team on the glass by pulling down 7.5 rebounds and Sharp has recorded 93 assists and 78 steals on the season.  Hall is adding 12.7 points and 5.1 boards.
 
As a team, Stetson is limiting its opponents to 34.9 percent shooting from the floor, which lands in the top 20 nationally.  The Hatters average 70.8 points per contest to their opponents' 58.4 to rank second in the Atlantic Sun in both categories.
 
Head coach Lynn Bria is in her seventh season at the helm for Stetson.  Over her six seasons with the Hatters, the team has compiled a 108-87 record, including a 27-8 mark last season.  In 2013-14, Stetson finished with a 16-2 record in the Atlantic Sun, finishing second in the conference, and earned a berth to the WNIT.
 
NKU-STETSON SERIES: Stetson holds a slim 3-2 advantage in the all-time series with NKU after the Norse held off a second-half Hatters rally for a 68-62 victory on Jan. 29 in The Bank of Kentucky Center.  The Hatters handed the Norse a 62-39 defeat in the first ever meeting between the two programs on Jan. 21, 2013, before NKU evened the series with a 73-68 victory in The Bank of Kentucky Center later that season.  Stetson took both matchups against the Norse last season, posting a 90-66 win in Highland Heights and a 74-57 victory in DeLand, Florida.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST STETSON: Christine Roush's 24-point performance on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, including 5-for-10 from 3-point land, led NKU to a 68-62 victory over Stetson earlier this season.  She recorded her first career double-double as she pulled down 12 rebounds to go along with three steals.
 
Melody Doss also finished with 24 points and recorded four rebounds, two blocks and one steal.  Rianna Gayheart dished out a career-high 11 assists as the Norse shot 41.5 percent (22-for-53) from the field as a team.
 
Myeisha Hall finished with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor, five rebounds and two assists to lead the Hatters. Brianti Saunders added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Amber Porter recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards for Stetson, which shot 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from the floor, including a 53.3 percent (16-for-30) effort in the second half.  Jama Sharp rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and five steals.
 
After NKU took a 37-19 lead into the halftime break, the Norse came connected on four of their first five field goals to start the second half, including a trio of 3-pointers. NKU had its largest lead of the game, 48-21, with 16:48 remaining before Stetson went on an 11-0 run to cut the NKU lead down to 48-32 with 14:11 on the clock.
 
With the Norse holding a 56-41 advantage with just under seven minutes remaining, Stetson used a 9-1 spurt with 5:25 remaining to tighten the game, cutting the Norse advantage to 57-50. NKU then pushed its lead back to 10 (62-52) less than one minute later, but the Hatters continued to chip away.
 
An 8-2 spurt from Stetson brought the Hatters to within four (64-60) with just over one minute to play, before Doss and Kelley Wiegman knocked down four free throws down the stretch to seal the win for the Norse.
 
PERSONAL-BEST NUMBERS: Molly Franson and Courtney Roush recorded career numbers against Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday.  Franson pulled down a team-high six rebounds to equal her personal best performance.  Earlier this season, she grabbed six boards in back-to-back games, first against Ohio on Nov. 25 in The Bank of Kentucky Center before repeating the feat against Grand Canyon three days later.
 
Roush added six points off the bench to the Norse total against the Eagles to top her previous career high.  Her effort on Thursday night topped her prior high of five points, which she also scored against FGCU on Jan. 19, 2013.  In that game, she also pulled down a career-high four rebounds.
 
CONTINUING TO CLIMB: Melody Doss's 13-point performance against Florida Gulf Coast moved Doss into 26th place with 1,040 points.  She needs just two points to jump Janet Brungs (1978-82), who sits in 25th place at 1,041 points, and 10 points to move into 24th past Dana Morningstar's (1992-97) 1,049.
 
The senior from Greenwood, Indiana, is averaging a team-leading 13.9 points, which ranks fifth in the Atlantic Sun, and 4.7 rebounds per game.  She also leads the team in field-goal percentage, connecting on 41.6 percent (121-for-291) of her attempts from the floor.  She ranks second on the team in free-throw shooting, having gone 52-for-62 (.839) from the charity stripe.
 
FROM LONG RANGE: Christine Roush and Melody Doss rank among the top 3-point shooters in the Atlantic Sun.  Roush has connected on 35.6 percent (42-for-118) of her attempts from long range to rank fifth among conference players.  She has drained five or more treys three times this season, including a season-high six 3-pointers against North Florida on Jan. 22.
 
Doss went 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc against FGCU on Thursday.  She is shooting 35.1 percent (39-for-111) from long range to land six in the Atlantic Sun.  She has knocked down four 3-pointers this season against both Marquette on Dec. 15 and Georgetown (Ky.) on Jan. 6.
 
UP NEXT: NKU returns to The Bank of Kentucky Center on Jan. 19 for Think Pink Night against Jacksonville at 7 p.m. to kick off a three-game homestand.  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 Throwback Night.  The contest is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m., and it will also be Girl Scout Night, where scouts in uniform will receive free admission.  Fans are asked to park in Lot T, which is the tiered lot located off University Drive, at no charge.