HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball takes a trip to Rochester, Michigan this weekend to end the regular season against Oakland.
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (6-9 Overall, 6-4 Horizon League)
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (11-10 Overall, 11-7 Horizon League)
Friday, Feb. 19 – 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Saturday, Feb. 20 – 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Rochester, Mich. | Athletics Center O'rena (4,000)
TV: ESPN+ (
Game 1) (
Game 2)
Stats: Live Stats
Fast Break Points
• In a weekend series with Wright State last weekend, the Norse were swept by scores of 66-50 and 63-54, respectively.
• Northern Kentucky currently leads the Horizon League in blocked shots per conference game with 4.3. No other league opponent is averaging over four.
• NKU's 6-0 start in conference play was the best since the 2008-09 season, where the Norse started off 8-0.
• NKU is an even 8-8 all-time against Oakland, with the Norse winning the last five contests in the series. In their last matchup with the Golden Grizzlies the Norse won, 67-65, on Feb. 29, 2020.
• NKU is currently sixth in the Horizon League standings, and seeded eighth for the Horizon League Tournament.
• This weekend's game closes out the regular season for the Norse. If the season ended now, NKU would face ninth-seeded Robert Morris in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. The Norse swept the Colonials in both matchups this season.
• The Norse were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll
• Junior guard
Lindsey Duvall has been impactful for the Norse. She registered her first three double-doubles in consecutive fashion against Bowling Green (10 points, career-high 14 rebounds), No. 19 Ohio State (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Robert Morris (21 points, 10 rebounds). She had another double-double versus Green Bay last weekend. She is leading the Norse in points (15.3) and is second in rebounds (7.5) per game.
• Sophomore guard
Carissa Garcia has improved on her freshman campaign, where she scored 7.3 points per game. She is up to 8.7 points a contest and had back-to-back games of 20 or more points at Milwaukee on Jan. 29-30. Garcia was named Horizon League Player of the Week on Feb. 1.
• After a freshman campaign that saw sophomore guard
Ivy Turner start every game a season ago, she's made an even larger difference this year, scoring 10.7 points, bringing down 3.9 rebounds and dishing 2.7 assists a a game.
•
Grayson Rose has been impactful in the second half of the season, especially on the boards. On the year, she's scoring at an 7.3 points per game rate and brings in 5.2 rebounds a contest. Rose is currently third in the Horizon League with 1.7 blocks per league contest and is fourth all-time for the Norse in blocked shots.
• Senior forward
Kailey Coffey has played in 107 games with 106 starts (good for ninth all-time) during a Norse career in which she has moved into eighth all-time with 785 rebounds. She currently leads the Norse in rebounds with 7.7 boards a contest.
• Coffey also just earned her third-straight Horizon League All-Academic Team honor thanks to her 4.0 GPA as a double-major in Chemistry and Biochemistry Pre-Vet.
• Five newcomers joined the squad this season, including Louisville transfer junior guard Duvall as well as freshmen guard
Kennedy Igo, center
Emma Palmer, center
Christyan Reid and guard/wing
Ellie Taylor.
Last Time Out
A tough weekend for the Norse saw Wright State sweep a two-game series. On Friday, the Raiders came out on top with a 66-50 result thanks to 50 percent (26-for-51) shooting. Duvall led the Norse with 16 points and six rebounds in the contest and Turner had 11 points. A day later, Wright State shot at a worse clip, but a 45-19 rebounding margin in favor of the Raiders was stifling. Turner shot an efficient 4-for-5 (80 percent) to reach 14 points in the 63-54 loss. Duvall was the only other Norse in double figures with 10 points.
Scouting Oakland
Oakland sits just above the .500 mark at 11-10 overall, but all 11 of its wins have come in the Horizon League en route to an 11-7 record thus far. Kahlaijah Dean is the star for the Golden Grizzlies with 17.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg and 4.4 apg. In Horizon League play, she currently ranks second in scoring (17.8 ppg), 10th in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and first in assists (4.9 apg). Alona Blackwell joins Dean in averaging double-figures with 11.0 points a contest. Oakland is second in the Horizon League in turnover margin on the year, capitalizing on 2.76 more mistakes than they give up.
Series Stuff
NKU is 8-8 against Oakland all-time. The Norse defeated the Golden Grizzlies in their last matchup, 63-54, on Feb. 29, 2020. The leap-year win made it a streak of five-consecutive games NKU has beaten Oakland.
