HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball hits the road for Wisconsin this weekend, starting out the swing in the Badger State at Green Bay. Tip-off against the Phoenix is set for 7 p.m. CT/8 ET on Thursday, Feb. 7, with a live broadcast on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT: NKU posted its fourth win in a row with a 78-44 victory over UIC. The Norse won four-straight games for the first time since Jan. 28-Feb. 6, 2016, and had the most successful homestand of the Division I era as NKU had not won four-straight games all at home since Dec. 29, 2011-Jan. 7, 2012.
Ally Niece also contributed a first in the Division I era as she scored 12 points and dished out 11 assists for NKU's first points/assists double-double since its transition. It was also the first overall since Feb. 28, 2009, when Karen Brackman had 10 points and 10 assists versus Lewis.
Emmy Souder and
Molly Glick paced the team with 14 points apiece, while
Taylor Clos added 11 points.
Kailey Coffey continued her work on the boards, pulling down 13 rebounds for her fourth-straight game with double-digit rebounds.
SCOUTING GREEN BAY: The Phoenix were picked to win the Horizon League for the 21st-consecutive season, but Green Bay currently sits in third place with an 8-2 record. The team is coming off a 59-45 win over Milwaukee after having its 27-game Horizon League home winning streak snapped in overtime by IUPUI on Jan. 26. The Phoenix still have their stingy defense, holding opponents to 54.2 points per game for the seventh-best scoring defense in the nation, but counter that with 62.7 ppg offensively, ranking 215th nationally. In conference action, Green Bay has held its defensive scoring to 54.0 ppg, and has upped its offensive production to 67.2 ppg. The Phoenix also do well in both stealing and taking care of the ball, nabbing 9.5 steals per game while committing 13.6 turnovers per game, ranking in the top-70 nationally in both categories.
Frankie Wurtz and Laken James pace the team in scoring at 10.9 and 10.5 points per game, respectively, while Jen Wellnitz is not far off double digits at 9.3 ppg. Wellnitz, the 2018 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, also leads the league and ranks 14th nationally with 3.15 steals per game. Madison Wolf has been leading the Phoenix on the boards with 7.2 rebounds per game and has recorded a team-best 18 blocks this season.
Green Bay holds an 8-1 advantage in the all-time series, with NKU's lone win coming on Dec. 30, 2017. The Norse upended the then-No. 19 Phoenix at BB&T Arena, 62-54, in one of the biggest upsets of the women's college basketball season. It marked just the second time that any NKU program had defeated a ranked Division I opponent.
NORSE IN THE RANKINGS: Since starting Horizon League play, the Norse have had several individuals climb into the top-10 of the standings in several statistical categories.
Kailey Coffey currently tops the league in rebounding at 9.6 boards per game and also ranks eighth with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio to pair with 2.8 assists per game.
Ally Niece has upped her shooting percentages since entering league action and ranks second among league opponents from the free throw line at 90.6 percent and is also efficient from long range, ranking third in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.4 percent. The rookie point guard has posted back-to-back games with career-high assists, moving her up to seventh in the league with 3.5 assists per game. Additionally, at 12.1 points per game, Niece is the top scoring freshman in the league. Two Norse rank in the top-10 in 3-pointers made, with
Taylor Clos sinking 2.4 triples a contest for third in the league while
Molly Glick's 1.9 3-pointers per game put her at seventh.
