HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball will take on Detroit Mercy in the regular-season finale on Saturday, March 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT: NKU fought off Oakland for the entirety of Friday's contest and pulled away in the final minutes, ending the contest on a 13-0 run for a 74-63 road victory.
Ally Niece led four Norse in double digits with 16 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.
Emmy Souder came off the bench and chipped in 14 points, going 3-for-4 from long range, while
Molly Glick and
Kailey Coffey added 11 and 10 points, respectively. NKU assisted on 20 of its 24 made field goals and committed just 10 turnovers in the win.
SEEDING SCENARIOS: With one game to go in Horizon League play, the Norse currently sit at sixth in the league standings with an 9-8 record, tying the most wins the program has had since entering the league in the 2015-16 season. NKU sits right behind Milwaukee's 10-7 record, and could finish as high as fifth in the standings with a win at Detroit Mercy coupled with a Milwaukee loss at IUPUI, as the Norse would have the head-to-head advantage on common opponents thanks to a 60-57 victory over the Jaguars on Jan. 31.
Wright State, Green Bay, IUPUI and Youngstown State have all clinched hosting rights for the first round of the Horizon League Championship, which will be held on either March 5 or 6. The Raiders clinched the No. 1 seed with a win over Detroit Mercy last night, while Green Bay has locked down the No. 2 seed with a 14-3 mark. Youngstown State and IUPUI are in a tie for third, and should Youngstown State defeat Cleveland State tomorrow, it will lock down the No. 3 seed regardless of IUPUI's outcome thanks to a head-to-head common opponents advantage over IUPUI with the Penguins' win over Wright State. Should NKU finish fifth, it will head to the No. 4 seed for the first-round game. With a sixth-place finish, the Norse would play at the No. 3 seed.
SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY: The Titans gave league-leading Wright State a scare last night, falling by just three points on their home court, scoring a season-high 73 points in a three-point setback. With the loss, Detroit Mercy is now out of the 2019 Horizon League Championship, as even with a win tomorrow would not hold the head-to-head advantage against eighth-place Oakland. Freshman forward Paige Bellman had a career game with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Titans against Wright State, while Jess Bicknell and Brittney Jackson added 14 and 13, respectively. Bicknell and Jackson have been averaging just over eight points per game in league play to pace the team, with Jackson adding a team-best 16 triples on the league season.
NKU holds a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series and is riding a four-game winning streak against the Titans. In the two teams' last meeting, the Norse handed Detroit Mercy a 68-56 defeat on Jan. 25.
