HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball will travel to Dayton, Ohio, for a key Horizon League contest against nearby rival Wright State. Tip-off against the Raiders is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse won their seventh of the last eight contests with an upset of league-leading IUPUI, 65-62. NKU boasted a balanced offense as five scored in double digits for the first time since Nov. 25, 2017, when the Norse defeated Oakland City, 103-25.
Ivy Turner paced Northern Kentucky with 12 points, while
Carissa Garcia and
Molly Glick, the latter of which recorded her 200th career 3-pointer in the victory, added 11.
Kailey Coffey and
Ally Niece rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points each.
FRESHMAN PHENOMS: Northern Kentucky is the only institution to have had two rookies named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week two times apiece. Garcia is the most recent recipient after she averaged 15.5 points per game in victories over UIC and IUPUI, including a career-high 20 points and 4-for-7 from beyond the arc against the Flames. She also earned the distinction on Dec. 9 following her performance against No. 2/2 Louisville, in which she led the team with 13 points and five assists.
Turner has also been making an immediate impact in her rookie campaign, starting in all 26 contests for the Norse. The Danville, Kentucky, native is third on the team in scoring with 8.7 points per game, and is the most utilized player on the team at 30.7 mpg. Turner also averages 2.1 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. She was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week for the second time this season on Jan. 13 after averaging 10.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game against UIC and IUPUI. Earlier on Dec. 2, she earned her first weekly distinction after helping the Norse record three victories over Central Arkansas, Jacksonville State and FIU. Turner had double-digit scoring efforts in each game, averaging 12.7 ppg at 55.0 percent from the floor. She also added 5.3 rpg and dished out five assists while nabbing three steals.
NORSE VS THE HORIZON LEAGUE: Since entering Horizon League play, the Norse find themselves among the top of the league in several statistical categories, ranking in the top-four in scoring defense (57.2 ppg), scoring margin (+8.1), rebounding margin (+5.3), turnover margin (+2.00) and blocked shots per game (3.3). Individually,
Grayson Rose ranks second in the league with 1.7 blocks per game, while Niece ranks second in free-throw percentage (90.5 percent) as well as third in assists per game (3.73) and seventh with a 1.47 assist-to-turnover ratio. Coffey pulls down 8.5 rpg to rank fourth in the league, and Glick's 1.6 triples per game rank eighth.
MILESTONE TRACKER: On Dec. 1, Glick was sent to the free throw line following a technical foul called on Florida International. Making both shots gave the redshirt-senior her 1,000th career point, making her the 30th Norse to hit the milestone in program history. Glick is also just the second player to score 1,000 points in the Division I era. Christine Roush was the first fully D-I player to hit 1,000 career points, as she finished her 2012-16 career with 1,439 points. Melody Doss (2011-15) also reached 1,154 points in her career, but played her freshman campaign in the Division II era. Glick currently has 1,211 career points and is 41 points away from cracking NKU's all-time top-20.
Glick also has 200 career 3-pointers, overtaking Michele Tuchfarber (1997-2001) for third on NKU's all-time career 3-pointers list. She has made at least two 3-pointers in 16 of NKU's 26 contests. The redshirt-senior has started in all but two games in her collegiate career, good for second all-time (117).
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE: The Raiders are currently tied with the Norse for second place in the league standings, with Thursday's game putting the winner within reach of a double-bye into the semifinals of the 2020 Horizon League Championship. Wright State's strongest statistic is its rebounding, boasting a +10.3 margin in league play. Even more, the Raiders are averaging a whopping 17.0 offensive boards overall, good for second nationally. Wright State also has one of the top offenses in the league at 69.0 ppg while allowing league foes to put up 61.0 ppg. Angel Baker is the second-leading scorer and assist giver in the league at 16.7 points and 3.8 assists per game, while Tyler Frierson paces the league with 9.3 rebounds per game. Shamarre Hale also ranks in the top-10, pulling down 7.7 rpg.
Northern Kentucky holds a 12-11 lead in the all-time series, but Wright State has won every meeting since NKU's transition to Division I. In the most recent matchup, the Norse led the Raiders through the first three quarters, but an offensive outburst from Baker in the fourth paved the way for a 63-55 WSU victory on Jan. 17.
