HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Season-high performances by Melody Doss and Shar'Rae Davis helped push the Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team past Lipscomb University in the first game of a Homecoming doubleheader in Atlantic Sun Conference action on Saturday at The Bank of Kentucky Center.
 
Doss led the way for NKU, which improved to 14-9 overall and 5-3 in the Atlantic Sun, with a season-high 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, including 3-for-6 beyond the 3-poing arc, and she was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
 
She was aided by Davis, who equaled her season high with 14 points.  Kasey Uetrecht rounded out the top scorers for the Norse with nine points and six rebounds. For the game, NKU went 20-for-54 for a 37.0 percent mark from the field and 5-for-21 (.238). The Norse were solid from the free-throw line, finishing 19-for-22 (.864) at the charity stripe.
 
Both teams started out slow, with the Norse getting on the scoreboard on a rebound layup by Kelley Wiegman at the 17:17 mark to tie the game at 2-all. The game stayed tied for almost three minutes until a basket by Uetrecht was followed by a triple by Emily Eubank with 14:29 left in the first half to give Lipscomb the 5-4 lead.
 
Strong defense by the Norse led to multiple shot clock violations early for the Bisons.  Doss was able to convert on one of the opportunities created to give the Norse a 6-5 lead with 12:20 on the clock. The teams exchanged baskets over the next three minutes before the Norse were able to build a 12-7 advantage on a Uetrecht jumper at the 9:32 mark.
 
Lipscomb used an 8-4 run to gain a 15-14 lead on a Kelli Smith 3-pointer with 7:01 left.  The long-range attempts continued to fall for the Lady Bisons, while the Norse struggled to knock down shots. A layup by Doss cut the Norse deficit to 22-19 three minutes later, but the Lady Bisons took a 28-22 advantage into the halftime break.
 
The Norse opened the second half with a 4-1 run to close the gap and coming to within 29-26, but another Lady Bisons triple reloaded the Lipscomb lead. Later, Doss's layup and a Davis jumper brought the Norse back to within three (35-32) with 15:52 remaining in the game.
 
An exchange of baskets kept the lead consistent for Lipscomb until Doss drained a 3-point field goal to bring the Lady Bisons lead down to 37-35 with just over 12 minutes left.  Uetrecht converted a layup to tie the game at 37-all with 11:35 remaining in the game. From the foul line, Uetrecht regained the Norse lead at the 11:13 mark at the free-throw line on the next Norse possession.
 
A layup from Ashley Southern at the end of the court tied the game once more, but a triple by Doss was followed by two layups from Christine Roush gave NKU a 48-41 lead with 8:27 remaining. The Lady Bisons came back to shrink the lead to three (48-45) on another layup by Southern but another field goal beyond the arc by Doss pushed the Norse ahead, 51-45, with 6:47 on the clock.
 
The teams went back and forth, but a three-pointer by Davis gave NKU its largest lead of the game at 58-49 with 3:56 left. The Norse maintained a steady lead over the final two minutes. A three-pointer by the Bisons with 1:44 remaining brought the NKU advantage down to 63-57, but free-throws by Uetrecht sealed the victory.
 
NKU finished with a 38-31 advantage on the glass and forced the Lady Bisons into 15 turnovers.  The Norse converted those miscues into 15 points and blocked three shots.
 
Lipscomb, which dropped to 8-14 on the year and 3-5 in the conference, was led by Southern's 16 points, nine rebounds, one assist and one steal. Danay Fothergill led the team in rebounds with 10 and added five points for the Lady Bisons, who shot 38.7 percent (21-for-55). Smith rounded out the top contributors with nine points and one assist.
 
NKU hits the road for a pair of Atlantic Sun contests next week, starting with a Thursday matchup against Florida Gulf Coast in Alico Arena at 7 p.m. in Fort Myers, Florida.  The Norse will stay in the Sunshine State to take on Stetson in DeLand, Florida, two days later at 1 p.m.  Links to live stats and both video broadcasts are available at NKUNorse.com.