HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball is back at home for a tilt with Belmont prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. The Norse square off with the Bruins at 6 p.m. ET inside BB&T Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 21. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Matt Sexton and Brady Laber on the call.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse suffered a difficult setback against Kent State on Nov. 17, rallying in the second half to knot the contest before the Golden Flashes ultimately won out by a point, 62-61.
Grayson Rose poured in a career-high 16 points and was just shy of her first career double-double with nine rebounds, while
Ally Niece scored all 12 of her points in the second half.
Taylor Clos rounded out NKU's double-figure scorers, chipping in 11. NKU then fell to a hot-shooting Akron squad, 77-60, as the Zips went 50.8 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from long range.
Emmy Souder came off the bench to lead the Norse with 16 points, six rebounds, a block and a steal, while Clos,
Kennedy Archer and
Molly Glick each added eight points.
SCOUTING BELMONT: The Bruins are No. 12 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 and was ranked in the national polls last season. Belmont holds a 3-1 record thus far, falling only to NC State to go with wins over Tulsa, Middle Tennessee and Horizon League foe Wright State. Senior Darby Maggard highlights the roster, as she has been named to the watch lists for both the Wade Trophy (top collegiate women's basketball player) and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (top shooting guard in women's college basketball). Maggard is pacing the Bruins with 17.0 points per game and has knocked down 15 of her 21 field goals from beyond the arc. She is the top active career leader in 3-point field goal percentage (43.9%) and free throw percentage (92.7%), and also ranks second in made 3-pointers (332), assists (555) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.78). Maggard has a strong supporting cast in Belmont's starting lineup with Ellie Harmeyer (13.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Maura Muensterman (9.5 ppg), Jenny Roy (9.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and Maddie Wright (8.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg).
Belmont sees little playing time out of its bench, with Maddie Cook and Conley Chinn spending the most time in the rotation out of the reserves at 16.8 and 13.0 minutes per game, respectively. The Bruins have been averaging 66.0 points and 42.2 rebounds per game against opponents, shooting 38.3 percent from the field and 28.7 percent from 3-point range. Belmont relies heavily on its 3-point shooting, ranking 32nd in the nation with 9.3 triples per contest. Maggard and Muensterman take the bulk of the outside shots, with the pair draining 25 of the team's 37 made 3-pointers on the season.
Wednesday's meeting will be the first between the two programs in over 35 years. The Norse and the Bruins last faced off in the 1982-83 season, with the Norse claiming a 62-54 win in Highland Heights.
