HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky women's basketball team lost a close overtime game to Cincinnati in its season-opener, 67-73. NKU falls to 0-1 for the season, while the Bearcats start their season 1-0 on the year.

STATS LEADERS

• Ally Niece led the Norse with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting (50 percent). Niece also chipped in two assists in her 35 minutes of play.
• Grayson Rose dropped two three-pointers on the Bearcats to score 8 points, going 3-of-8 (38 percent) from the field.
• Kailey Coffey led the team with 8 rebounds, four of which were from the offensive glass.
• Ivy Turner contributed nine points and had a steal on the defensive end.
• In her NKU debut, Lindsey Duvall contributed 13 points behind 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe.

FIRST HALF SUMMARY

• Carissa Garcia notched the first points of the new season with a fast-break layup 30 seconds into the game.
• Niece and Emmy Souder put up four and three points, respectively, from there to go up 9-8.
• Turner finished off the close first-quarter with a layup, giving NKU an 11-8 lead.
• To kick off the second quarter, NKU went on a 9-0 run fueled primarily with six points by Turner. 
• The Norse lead held steady from there after both sides traded buckets. NKU went into the break leading, 26-17, with 13 of their points coming off of Bearcat turnovers.
• NKU shot 36 percent in the first half through a 10-for-28 (36 percent) mark from the field.

SECOND HALF SUMMARY

• Cincinnati had scores on three-straight possessions to open the new half, but NKU kept the bearcats in check with a layup by Garcia and a jumper from Niece, followed by two more free throws by Garcia.
• The Bearcats trimmed the Norse lead from eight down to three with 6:45 left in the quarter. Fortunately for the Norse, they rebounded with a pair of layups and a free throw by Souder, bringing the NKU lead back to eight points with 4:50 to go in the third.
• Duvall ended the third quarter with a shot from down low, putting the Norse up 44-37 heading into the final ten-minutes.
• Cincinnati broke out to a 7-2 mini-run to kick off the fourth quarter. Duvall and Niece stopped the bleeding with three free throws and a made jump-shot, respectively.
• The Bearcats continued their creep and eventually tied things up at 51 at the final media timeout.
• Rose had a pair of clutch shots fall in the final minutes, but Cincinnati answered to tie the game up at the end of regulation.
• The Norse forced the Bearcats into 10 turnovers in the second half.

OVERTIME SUMMARY

• The Bearcats stampeded through a 12-3 run to begin overtime, giving them the 68-59 edge with 1:56 left. NKU's only points in that span came through a layup by Duvall and a free throw by Coffey.
• Niece and Duvall contributed another pair of buckets to make it a two-possession game with 1:04 to go in the period.
• The Norse brought it to a three-point game after makes by Turner and Duvall, but Cincinnati held on with an and-one bucket in the final seconds to win the game.

GAME NOTES

• The final half proved to be the most impactful, NKU scored 41 points in the third quarter, fourth quarter and overtime, while the Bearcats scored 56.
• Duvall's 13 points is a new career high. Her last best was nine against Tennessee State on December 12, 2017, when she played for Louisville.
• The last time NKU had an overtime matchup was in 2018, where they had back-to-back overtime contests against UIC (Jan. 21, W, 61-53) and Wright State (Jan. 28, L, 68-63).
• NKU had 21 points off the bench, 42 of its 67 points in the paint and 16 points off of turnovers.

UP NEXT
The Norse travel to Akron for their second game of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 1.