Northern Kentucky (19-14) saw its postseason come to an end in a dramatic 81-79 defeat to Marshall (17-14) in the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI), a game that capped the third-straight appearance in the WBI for the Norse.
Northern Kentucky’s Kasey Uetrecht had a career-night – by halftime. The freshman dropped 6-of-7 shots from the floor, including a perfect 3-for-3 from long range, en route to 17 first-half points. Fourteen of those points came in the final seven minutes of the stanza as Marshall struggled to contain Uetrecht.
The Norse rode Uetrecht’s hot hand, expanding a two-point lead at the 6:50 mark to as many as 10 with 2:45 left in the first half.
But, the Thundering Heard kept in the game and used a running jumper at the horn to send the game into intermission with the Norse holding a six-point advantage, 43-37.
Northern Kentucky shot 48 percent (16-of-33) from the floor in the frame, compared to 54 percent (14-of-26) shooting for Marshall. NKU forced 12 Marshall miscues that led to a 16-11 advantage in points off of turnovers.
Consecutive 3-pointers from Marshall’s McKenzie Akers and Leah Scott tied the game 48 seconds after intermission, but Northern Kentucky responded.
Christine Roush hit a three. Melody Doss connected on a trey of her own. Then, Kaitlyn Gerrety and Uetrecht converted back-to-back layups, and the Norse lead reached double-digits, 53-43, for the second time of the game.
Over the next five minutes of action, the two teams continually traded baskets. Back-and-forth the scoring went. Doss and Uetrecht took over for the Norse, combining to convert all six of NKU’s baskets during a stretch that ended with Doss’ layup with 10 minutes on the clock to give the Norse a nine-point margin, 66-57.
The Thundering Herd answered, scoring 11 unanswered points to move back in front, 68-66. It was the first Marshall lead since 24-23 with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Consecutive jumpers from Gerrety pushed the Norse back ahead, 72-70.
The advantage was short lived. AJ Johnson scored a layup for Marshall. Three more baskets came in short order from Akers, Scott and Johnson to cap nine-straight Herd points and provide them with a 77-70 lead.
The Madness was only beginning.
Doss and Roush converted back-to-back lay-ins. Roush then stole the ball and took it to the rack to pull NKU within a point, 77-76, with 45 seconds left.
Stout defense from Northern Kentucky on the ensuing Marshall possession seemed to have the Herd stymied, but a 25-foot heave from Johnson with 1 second on the shot clock banked in to push NKU’s deficit back to four, 80-76, with 15.8 ticks on the clock.
Uetrecht answered with 7.7 seconds remaining, knocking down her fourth trey of the game.
NKU fouled Scott on the in-bounds pass. Scott stepped to the line and converted 1-of-2, leaving the door open for one last Norse chance.
Rianna Gayheart’s attempt at the buzzer was short, and Northern Kentucky fell to Marshall, 81-79.
Uetrecht was sensational for the Norse, finishing with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 from three. Doss also reached 20 points, pouring in 25 on 10-of-17 field-goal attempts.
Scott led the Herd with 26 points. She connected on 11-of-16 attempts.
Northern Kentucky knocked down 53 percent (32-of-60) from the field and 41 percent (12-of-29) from three. The Norse also dished out a season-high 24 assists, recording a dish on 75 percent of their makes.
Marshall closed the game making 57 percent of its attempts from both the floor (32-of-56) and three-point range (12-of-21). Akers (18), Enjonae Chambers (13) and Johnson (11) also reached double figures for the Herd.
Norse Notes
Uetrecht (26) and Doss (25) each scored more than 20 points in the game, marking the first time since Jan. 30, 2010 that two Norse reached the 20-point plateau in the same game. Cassie Morgan (23) and Brandi Rayburn accomplished the feat against St. Joseph’s (Ind.) in a 71-59 Norse victory.
Uetrecht’s previous career-high was a 10-point effort against USC Upstate on Jan. 17, 2015. NKU won that game, 77-74.
Northern Kentucky’s 12 made threes matched its season-high, which it had accomplished three other times – FGCU (2/12), Lipscomb (1/10) and Ohio (11/25).
This marks the third season the Norse have earned a berth into the WBI. The No. 1 ranking marks the highest seed NKU has received.
From NKU Athletics