HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball continues its postseason run on Thursday, March 5, when the Norse host No. 5 seed Milwaukee. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can purchase tickets priced $5 for adults and $4 for youth using the promo code NKUWBB35 at Ticketmaster. The code will be valid until noon on Thursday, after which regular-price tickets can be purchased at the box office at $6 for adults and $5 for youth.

LAST TIME OUT: The Norse recorded a statement win to open up the 2020 Horizon League Championship, defeating Detroit Mercy, 94-47. The 47-point margin of victory marks the largest against a Division I opponent, and it was also the first time that NKU had scored at least 90 points against a D-I foe. Furthermore, NKU committed just four turnovers in the contest, which marks the fewest miscues in a single game in program history, besting the mark of five against USC Upstate on March 17, 2016. Carissa Garcia led the way in scoring with 17 points, while Tayah Irvin and Janna Lewis pulled down seven rebounds apiece to lead NKU on the boards.
 
POSTSEASON HONORS: With the announcement of the Horizon League's postseason honors on Monday morning, three Norse hauled in distinction. Niece and Molly Glick were both named to the All-Horizon League Second Team, marking the first time since the 2014-15 season that NKU has had two all-league performers, while Turner was named to the all-freshman team.
 
OUT WITH A BANG: Niece had the best offensive weekend of her collegiate career to close out the regular season, earning her the distinction of Horizon League Player of the Week. It marked the first time since Jan. 25, 2016, that a Norse had earned the honor. Niece averaged 21.5 points per game, doing so at 53.3 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from beyond the arc against Detroit Mercy and Oakland. The sophomore also averaged 5.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
 
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 30 contests for the Norse. The Danville, Kentucky, native is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.5 points per game, and is the most utilized player on the team at 30.3 mpg. Turner also averages 2.2 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 finished among the top of the league in several statistical categories, ranking in the top-four in scoring offense (66.6 ppg), scoring defense (59.1 ppg), scoring margin (+7.5), rebounding margin (+5.1), 3-point field-goal percentage (30.6 percent), blocks per game (3.0), steals (7.5) and turnover margin (+1.9). Individually, Grayson Rose ranked second in the league with 1.6 blocks per game, while Niece ranked third in assists per game (3.9), seventh with a 1.43 assist-to-turnover ratio and ninth in scoring (12.6 ppg). Coffey pulled down 8.21rpg to rank fifth in the league, Turner's 1.3 steals per game ranked eighth and Glick's 1.5 triples per game ranked 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 1,239 career points and is 13 points away from cracking NKU's all-time top-20.
  
Glick also has 205 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 17 of NKU's 30 contests. The redshirt-senior has started in all but two games in her collegiate career, good for second all-time (121).
  
A pair of juniors is also climbing the ranks in the NKU laurels, as Rose currently has 89 career blocks, good for seventh on the all-time list, and her 37 blocks on the season are just two 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 14th with 652 career caroms and is 79 away from breaking into the top-10.
 
SCOUTING MILWAUKEE: The Panthers enter the contest with a 15-15 mark, but are riding a hot streak of 8-1 following a 61-37 loss to the Norse on Jan. 30.  Milwaukee is coming off a 73-65 win over No. 8 seed Oakland, outscoring the Golden Grizzlies 27-12 in the fourth quarter to advance in the tournament. Sydney Staver came off the bench to score 16 points, while All-Horizon League Third-Team honoree Brandi Bisping added 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. In the last nine games, Milwaukee is averaging 67.1 points per game at 44.7 percent shooting and holding opponents to 60.1 ppg, at 38.9 percent an improvement of 58.5 ppg scored at 37.6 percent and 66.9 ppg allowed at 41.6 percent before the run. The Panthers also have had four players averaging double digits in that span - Bisping, Staver, Lizzie Odegard and Jamie Reit.
  
Northern Kentucky is looking to knot the all-time series up, as the Panthers hold a 5-4 advantage, dating back to the 2015-16 season. The Norse swept the regular-season meetings, with a 61-49 win on the road coupled with the 61-37 victory at home.