HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball is back at home this week, hosting Oakland on Thursday, Feb. 8. Tip-off against the Golden Grizzlies is slated for 5 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with streaming available on computers, tablets, smart phones and streaming devices through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS: The matchup with the Golden Grizzlies is the front end of a doubleheader with the NKU men's team, which hosts Milwaukee at 7 p.m. During both games, NKU will be holding $1 Beverage Night, which prices beer and bottled water at $1 apiece. The women's game will also be NKU's Box Out Cancer game, so fans are encouraged to wear pink to support the fight against breast cancer. NKU will be partnering with The Pink Ribbon Girls, which will be set up in the concourse to collect donations and hand out pink items. All proceeds will go to support local women in the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati area who are fighting breast cancer.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse upset Milwaukee, which is currently in third place in the Horizon League, on the road last Saturday afternoon. NKU used stifling defense in the opening half to keep the Panthers to just 15 points, which proved to be vital as Milwaukee drained eight 3-pointers in the second half to close in on the Norse. NKU held off the Panthers for a 60-57 victory.
Molly Glick led the Norse in scoring with 15 points and sank three triples for the fourth-straight game.
Kailey Coffey also had a strong outing with her third career double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while
Jazmyne Geist and
Mikayla Terry also scored in double figures.
SCOUTING OAKLAND: Oakland has dropped its last two contests, falling on the road by 10 points to Youngstown State and 20 points to Cleveland State. The Golden Grizzlies sit one spot above the Norse in League standings at 4-7, meaning a win would push NKU into seventh. Though not a highly defensive team in terms of scoring, the Golden Grizzlies are some of the best in the nation in steals per game (10.5), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.292), turnovers forced (19.2) and turnover margin (4.3).
Taylor Gleason leads the defensive charge with 2.5 steals per game, second in the Horizon League and No. 62 nationally. The senior guard also dishes out 4.9 assists per game and is the team's third-leading scorer with 11.1 points per game. Oakland's high-powered offense averages 70.7 ppg, with five players averaging double figures led by Sha'Keya Graves with 12.6 ppg. The team has also done well from long range, with Graves, Gleason and Cierra Bond combining for 120 of the team's 163 3-pointers made.
Northern Kentucky has met up with Oakland 11 times in the history of the two programs, with the Golden Grizzlies on top, 8-3. Since NKU transitioned to Division I, Oakland holds a 3-2 advantage, with both NKU wins coming in the 2015-16 campaign.
ROOKIES IN THE RANKS: NKU has had some key performances from its freshman class, which has come in to contribute right away. Two rookies help lead the team in rebounding (
Kailey Coffey - 6.3 rpg;
Grace White - 4.3 rpg) to keep the Norse at a +2.7 rebounding margin over opponents, a number that ranks fifth in the Horizon League. Coffey has the 12th-highest rebounding average in the Horizon League, and sits at sixth in the League with 2.6 offensive rpg. Since entering League play, Coffey has been averaging 10.0 points per game at a .494 clip, a shooting percentage that ranks among the League's top performers. Both Coffey and White have been honored as the Horizon League Freshman of the Week during the season, making NKU the only institution this year to have two different rookies honored.
