HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball will play inside BB&T Arena for the final time this season as the Norse host Cleveland State for Senior Day on Sunday, Feb. 24. NKU's lone senior, Taryn Taugher, will be honored at approximately 1:40 p.m. ET, with tip-off to follow at 2 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
GAME DAY PROMOS: In addition to honoring Taugher, the Norse will also honor student managers Kevin Carey and Jake Roberts, who have been on the NKU bench for four seasons. The game will also be NKU's Pink Game as the Norse partner with the Pink Ribbon Girls, an organization that provides healthy meals, housecleaning, rides to treatment and peer support to individuals with breast and gynecological cancers, all free of charge.
 
LAST TIME OUT: NKU won its fifth-straight home game in thrilling fashion on Friday night as an inbounding Ally Niece found Molly Glick off an elevator screen with one second on the clock. Glick sank a deep 3-pointer, which was featured on ESPN SportCenter's Top Ten plays in the No. 5 spot, to propel the Norse to a 65-62 victory over Youngstown State. The heroic shot was no fluke, as the Norse shot 53.3 percent from long range in the contest. Glick led the Norse with 16 points while Niece and Taylor Clos added 14 apiece, and Kailey Coffey pulled down 11 rebounds. The Norse move up to sixth in the Horizon League standings at 7-8 and are within striking distance of fifth-place Milwaukee's 8-7 mark.
 
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings are one game behind the Norse in the Horizon League standings after falling at Wright State, 78-52. Cleveland State has three players averaging double-digit scoring in Horizon League games, with Mariah Miller leading the way at 15.6 points per game. Mariah White chips in 13.4 ppg and runs the offense with 4.4 assists per game, and Savanna Crockett has been posting 11.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in her rookie season. Crockett has posted 11 double-doubles over the entire year, ranking 33rd nationally.
  
As a team, the Vikings have been averaging 62.8 ppg, but surrender 64.7 ppg to their opponents. Cleveland State is a strong rebounding team, averaging 39.4 boards per game, and also leads the Horizon League with 9.4 steals per game, good for 67th nationally.
  
Cleveland State holds a 6-3 edge in the all-time series and has won the last five contests. The last meeting on Jan. 18 saw the Vikings claim a 76-47 victory over the Norse in Cleveland.
 
STRONGER ON THE OTHER SIDE: NKU had its fair share of heartbreak during the nonconference portion of the schedule, going 0-5 in games that were decided by five points or fewer. However, the Norse used those contests as learning opportunities and have flipped the script in Horizon League matchups, holding a 3-0 record against league opponents in games that have gone down to the wire. The Norse posted a one-point victory over Milwaukee on Jan. 3, 55-54, before a 60-57 win over IUPUI on Jan. 31. Finally, NKU most recently posted its buzzer-beating victory over Youngstown State, 65-62, on Feb. 22.
 
BRAINS AND BRAWN: Sophomore Kailey Coffey was honored for her work both on the court and in the classroom as she was one of 50 Division I student-athletes nationwide to earn Google Cloud Academic All-District® honors, as voted upon by CoSIDA. Coffey was one of five women's basketball players honored in District 2, and is one of just four sophomores on the nationwide list. Coffey carries a perfect 4.00 grade point average in chemistry and is now eligible for Academic All-America honors.