HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball will play its first game of 2017 on Thursday, Jan. 5, when the Norse welcome Horizon League foe Cleveland State to BB&T Arena. The game will tip off at 5 p.m. ET and is the front end of a doubleheader with the NKU men's team, which hosts Youngstown State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday's game will be carried on the ESPN3 platform with Andrew Kappes on play-by-play for the Norse while Karmen Graham will serve as analyst. Fans can stream the game live on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse dropped their second Horizon League game, falling to Milwaukee on the road, 72-44. The Norse had a much stronger second half after trailing 41-14 in the first, and capped off the contest on a 14-6 fourth quarter showing. Junior forward Kasey Uetrecht led the Norse in scoring with 19 points while Mikayla Terry led NKU with seven rebounds and a pair of assists. Milwaukee took over with hot shooting from 3-point range as the Panthers drilled 12 3-pointers, all in the first three quarters.
 
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings sit at 6-6 overall and won their only League matchup of the season, downing Youngstown State in the HL opener, 71-68. In that game, Cleveland State was led by 27 points from Preseason All-HL selection Ashanti Abshaw paired with a double-double from rookie guard Jade Ely, who hauled in League Freshman of the Week honors for her 15 points and 15 rebounds. On the season, Abshaw has been dropping 18.7 points per game, making her the League's second-leading scorer as well as 37th in the nation. Running the Viking offense is Khayla Livingston, who dishes out 4.8 assists per game to rank fourth in the League and 65th in the country.
  
Matched up with the rest of the Horizon League, Cleveland State sits in the middle of the pack statistically in nearly every category, averaging 63.9 ppg while allowing 69.6 points a contest. The Vikings' standout stat line is that CSU leads the League in fewest fouls, and is ranked 23rd in the nation in that respect.
  
NKU holds a 3-1 record all-time against the Vikings, with just one game in the series played prior to the Norse joining the Horizon League last season. The lone loss came in a 64-62 upset on Senior Night last year, which NKU avenged by handing Cleveland State a 71-59 loss in the first round of the 2016 Horizon League Tournament.
 
HOME SUPPORT: Northern Kentucky currently ranks 90th in the nation and second in the Horizon League in average attendance for home games. When playing at BB&T Arena, the Norse have pulled an average of 2,129 fans per game for a total of 10, 645 throughout the four home contests. The most attended game of the year thus far was the Nov. 30 tilt against Stetson, which drew a crowd of 5,332. That number ranks fourth in BB&T Arena history for an NCAA basketball game.