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Women's Basketball

Pair of Norse Alumni Named to Indiana Basketball HOF 2025 Women’s Silver Anniversary Team

NEW CASTLE, Ind. - A pair of former Northern Kentucky University Norse Women's Basketball alumni were recently honored with a selection to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's 2025 women's Silver Anniversary Team. Connie (Myers) Kline and Jessica (Brock) Peelman earned the honor for their efforts as legendary high school basketball players graduating in the year 2000. 

At NKU, both Kline and Brock joined the Norse in the 2001-02 season. As members of the Norse, NKU won a 2002 GLVC regular season championship and finished as NCAA DII Quarterfinalists, and were 2002-03 NCAA DII National Runner-Up, the school's second appearance in the championship game.

Kline, a 2004-05 GLVC first-team selection, ranks 17th on NKU's all-time leading scorers list with 1,290 points, and holds the 10th-highest career scoring average, putting up 13.2 points per game over 98 games. She was NKU's leading scorer in both the 2003-04 (14.4 points per game) and the 2004-05 season (16.5 PPG). Kline also led the 04-05 squad in rebounding, averaging 8.6 boards per game. On February 19th, 2005, Kline set the still-standing record for highest FG% in a game (min. 8 attempts), going 10-10 from the floor against Lewis. 

Peelman ranks 15th all time in career three point percentage, making 37.5% of her threes in her career. She ranks ninth in games played in a single season, playing all 34 games in her 2002-03 campaign. Peelman was a starter on the 2003-04 team that earned a first-round berth in the NCAA DII Tournament. 

Read more about their accomplishments in high school below, courtesy of hoopshall.com.

Connie (Myers) Kline averaged 19.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.7 steals in propelling Columbia City to a 20-6 record and Class 3A state runner-up finish as a senior. That came after she averaged 20.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.2 steals for a 13-10 squad as a junior for coach Wayne Kreiger.

In four varsity seasons, the 5-10 forward totaled 1,629 points (16.5), 915 rebounds (9.2), 231 assists (2.3) and 206 steals (2.1) in helping the Eagles to a 71-28 ledger with two sectional championships, two regional trophies, one semi-state crown and one Northeast Hoosier Conference title. She held school records for points in a game (37 vs. Frankfort on Feb. 26, 2000), points in a season (503), points in a career (1,629 points) and rebounds in a game (20 vs. Bellmont on Dec. 3, 1998) at the time of her graduation.

As a senior, Kline was selected AP high honorable mention All-State, ICGSA second-team All-State, Louisville Courier-Journal second-team All-State, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel Player of the Year, 21-Alive Fort Wayne area Player of the Year and played in the 2000 North/South Indiana All-Star Classic. She also was a 1999 Junior All-Star, 1999 AP honorable mention All-State and a four-time all-NHC selection. She earned 11 varsity letters (four basketball, three volleyball, four softball) and also was named all-NHC in volleyball and softball.

After high school, she attended Indiana University for one year but did not play there. She then transferred to Northern Kentucky University, where she played four seasons and totaled 1,290 points (13.2), 654 rebounds (6.7) and 143 assists (1.5) in helping the Norse to an 85-38 record and three NCAA Division II national tournaments, two D-II Elite eight appearances and a D-II national runner-up finish in 2003. Kline averaged 16.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, was voted first-team all-Great Lakes Valley Conference and was named winner of the NKU Thomas J. Kerns Career Achievement Award as a senior. She stands 17th on NKU career scoring list and 16th on the school's career rebounding list.

Kline earned a bachelor's degree in 2004 and a master's degree in 2005, both in business administration from NKU. She was an assistant coach at Columbia City from 2005-07 and the eighth-grade coach at Indian Springs Middle School from 2007-10. She has been the controller for Whitehead Construction Inc. since 2018 and a home-school mother since 2022. She was inducted into inaugural class of the Columbia City Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021.

Jessica (Brock) Peelman averaged 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.0 steals in pacing Rising Sun to a 25-3 ledger and Class A state runner-up as a senior. In four seasons, she totaled a school-record 1,719 points (17.5) plus 865 rebounds (8.8), 386 assists (3.9) and 352 steals (3.6) as the Shiners went 87-11 with three sectional titles, three regional crowns, one semi-state trophy and four Ohio River Valley Conference championships for coach Mark Fette. Peelman scored a career-high 37 points against Shawe Memorial on Feb. 8, 2000.

The 5-11 guard-forward was named AP high honorable mention All-State, Louisville Courier-Journal second-team All-State, all-State Finals, to the Hall of Fame Classic all-tournament team, played in the 2000 North/South Indiana All-Star Classic and the 2000 Rising Sun Outstanding Female Athlete as a senior. She also was four-time first-team all-ORVC and conference MVP, four-time all-sectional, three-time all-regional, three-time all-semi-state and four-time team MVP. She earned 14 letters in high school (four basketball, four volleyball, four track, one cross country, one soccer), was two-time All-State in track & field in the high jump and 1999 ICGSA Class A All-State in volleyball.

After high school, Peelman averaged 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds in one season at Purdue-Fort Wayne for a 19-8 squad. She then transferred to Northern Kentucky University, totaling 508 points (5.6), 422 rebounds (4.6) and 130 assists (1.4) in three seasons with the Norse. Those Nancy Winstel-coached teams went a combined 69-26 while winning one Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season championship, qualifying for three NCAA Division II national tournaments and finishing as 2003 D-II national runner-up. Peelman is 15th on NKU list for career 3-point accuracy (.375, 78-208) and notched career highs of 20 points and 18 rebounds against Lewis University on Feb. 14, 2004. As a senior, she won the NKU Hustle Award, was a team captain and was selected GLVC all-academic.

Peelman earned a bachelor's degree in education from NKU in 2004. She was a teacher at Dillsboro Elementary School from 2005-14 and has taught at Ohio County Elementary School since 2014. She coached girls' basketball at Dillsboro Elementary from 2005-07, at Ohio County Middle School from 2014-22 and has been an assistant coach at Rising Sun since 2022. She also was a varsity volleyball coach at South Dearborn in 2005-06.
 
View the full release from the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame here. 

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