CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Despite being down to just eight student-athletes, the Northern Kentucky women's basketball team showed no quit as they battled with the Big 10's Illinois in a non-conference clash in the State Farm Center on Wednesday night. With the valiant effort, the Norse found themselves on the wrong side of a 74-52 decision to their Power 5 conference foes.
 
THE FACTS
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky – 52, Illinois – 74
LOCATION: State Farm Center – Champaign, Illinois
RECORDS: NKU: 1-6 (0-1 HL) – Illinois: 5-2 (0-0 B1G 10)
 
BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN
- Macey Blevins: 24 points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal
- Khamari Mitchell-Steen: 16 points, three boards, one swipe
- Carter McCray: 10 boards, two points, one assist
- Allison Basye: Five rebounds, two points, one block
 
NORSE NOTES
- NKU held the Illini to nine points below their season average, even with just eight available student-athletes for the contest.
- Blevins set a career-best with 24 points off an 8-of-15 night from the field. She also went a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.
- Mitchell-Steen had another double-digit game with 16 points off a 4-of-9 performance from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 showing at the line. She has now gone for double-digit points in six of seven games so far this season.
- McCray grabbed 10 boards, her third double-digit rebound game this year.
- As a team, NKU was a perfect 17-of-17 from the free throw line. It was the best performance from the charity stripe in school history, overtaking a 14-of-14 performance all the way back on March 9, 2008.
 
NEXT UP
The Norse return home for another non-conference game, this time against Kentucky State, on Saturday, December 9. Tip is set for 4:30 PM ET inside Truist Arena.
 
 
FOLLOW NKU NORSE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Get in the game and follow Northern Kentucky's NCAA Division I women's college basketball team through @NKUNorseWBB on Twitter, @NKUNorseWBB on Instagram, nkunorsewbb on Facebook and subscribe to the NKU Norse Youtube channel.