HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball is on the road at Oakland for the 2019-20 regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 29. Tip-off against the Golden Grizzlies is set for 3 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse posted an 82-61 victory over Detroit Mercy to clinch the No. 4 seed in the 2020 Horizon League Championship. Though NKU led by just a point at the end of the first half, the Norse stormed out in the second half and outscored the Titans by 20. Ally Niece led NKU's scoring efforts with 19 points, including a career-high-tying five 3-pointers on just six attempts. Grayson Rose and Emmy Souder chipped in 10 points apiece, with Rose going 4-for-4 from the field and pulling down 11 rebounds for her third career double-double. As a team, the Norse were red-hot from beyond the arc and sank 12-of-24 3-pointers, marking the best showing of the season from long range.
 
POSTSEASON PLACEMENT: With much in the air leading up to the weekend's contest, Northern Kentucky's seeding has been solidified following the results of Thursday's matchups. The Norse have earned the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Championship, and with that, hosting rights for the first round as well as the second round, contingent upon a first-round victory. NKU will take on Detroit Mercy once more, as the Titans are one of four teams to have locked up their seeding and have earned the No. 9 seed. The first round of the tournament will be held on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. from inside BB&T Arena.
  
This year's tournament format provides a two-game bye for the No. 1 and 2 seeds, which will be awarded to IUPUI and either Green Bay or Wright State, depending on Saturday's results. The No. 3-6 seeds will host the first rounds, after which there will be a reseeding of the remaining teams with the highest two seeds hosting on Thursday, March 5. The final four teams will meet up in Indianapolis with the semifinals on March 9 and the championship game on March 10.
 
FRESHMAN PHENOMS: Northern Kentucky is the only institution to have had two rookies named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week two times apiece. Carissa 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.
  
Ivy Turner has also been making an immediate impact in her rookie campaign, starting in all 28 contests for the Norse. The Danville, Kentucky, native is third on the team in scoring with 8.5 points per game, and is the most utilized player on the team at 30.5 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.
 
BRAINS AND BRAWN: On Feb. 20, junior forward Kailey Coffey was honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as an Academic All-District member for the second season. Coffey is one of just seven student-athletes out of 42 Division I honorees with an unblemished grade point average. In addition to her stellar classroom performance, Coffey is NKU's leading rebounder and has had eight double-digit rebounding performances this season. She is now eligible for Academic All-America honors, which will be announced on Monday, March 9. Coffey also repeated as a Horizon League All-Academic Team honoree, which was announced on Feb. 27.
 
NORSE VS THE HORIZON LEAGUE: During Horizon League play, the Norse have found themselves among the top of the league in several statistical categories, ranking in the top-four in scoring offense (66.6 ppg), scoring defense (58.8 ppg), scoring margin (+7.8), rebounding margin (+4.7), 3-point field-goal percentage (31.1 percent), free-throw percentage (73.4 percent), blocks per game (3.1), steals (7.5), fewest turnovers (13.8) and turnover margin (+2.2). Individually, Rose ranks second in the league with 1.7 blocks per game, while Niece ranks third in assists per game (3.9), sixth with a 1.53 assist-to-turnover ratio and 10th in scoring (11.9 ppg). Coffey pulls down 8.2 rpg to rank fourth in the league, Turner's 1.3 steals per game rank 10th and Molly Glick's 1.5 triples per game rank 10th.
 
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 202 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 (119).
  
A pair of juniors is also climbing the ranks in the NKU laurels, as Rose currently has 88 career blocks, good for seventh on the all-time list, and her 36 blocks on the season are just three away from cracking the single-season top-10 list. Coffey has also been making her way up the all-time rebounding list, currently sitting at 15th with 642 career caroms and is 89 away from breaking into the top-10.
 
SCOUTING OAKLAND: The Golden Grizzlies have gone 6-11 in league play, and will be either the No. 7 or 8 seed in the Horizon League Championship. Oakland is coming off a 77-60 loss to Wright State, and has lost five of its last six contests. Sophomore Kahlaijah Dean leads the Oakland offense with 13.1 ppg and is one of three Golden Grizzlies who shoots a high volume from long range. Freshman Alona Blackwell paces the team beyond the arc, with 32 triples in league play at 37.6 percent shooting. As a team, Oakland averages 66.1 ppg, but surrenders 73.1 ppg and allows opponents to shoot 44.6 percent from the field.
  
Oakland leads the all-time series by a slim 8-7 advantage, but NKU has won six of the nine contests since transitioning to Division I. The Norse are currently on a four-game winning streak against the Golden Grizzlies, the most recent being a 69-60 win on Jan. 23.