Northern Kentucky women’s basketball fell to Ohio on the road in a Monday-night contest, 58-41. With the setback, the Norse dip to 1-3 overall on the season, while the defending Mid-American Conference champion Bobcats move to 3-0.
Stat Leaders
· Senior guard Kelley Wiegman led the Norse in scoring with a season-best 13 points as the only NKU player to register double digits. She also added four rebounds and a pair of assists for the Norse.
· Redshirt-senior forward Rebecca Lyttle was just short of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Lyttle was 4-for-4 from the field and recorded three blocks, just one off her career best.
· Junior forward Kasey Uetrecht scored all seven of her points in the first half, including two from long range.
· Junior guard Mikayla Terry had a strong effort on the boards with seven rebounds, all of which were defensive, to go with two steals. Terry has led the Norse in steals in each game this season.
NKU was able to stay with the Bobcats for the first portion of the opening quarter, but the Bobcats ended the quarter on a 9-3 run to hold a 17-10 advantage.
The Norse kept the Bobcats scoreless for a good portion of the second quarter, including nearly a seven-minute drought for Ohio before the Bobcats rattled off an eight-point run within a minute and a half to extend the lead further.
The first half ended with Ohio leading, 29-19.
NKU shot 24 percent in the first half, going 6-of-25 from the field. The Bobcats shot 40%, but were slowed considerably in the second quarter with a .316 clip.
Uetrecht led the Norse with seven points, going 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
Lyttle added five points and seven rebounds to lead all players on the boards, along with two blocks.
NKU was unable to close the gap that the Bobcats had built up in the first quarter until midway through the fourth quarter, when Wiegman scored or assisted on seven-straight Norse points.
After shooting under 30.0 percent in the first three quarters, the Norse went 4-of-7 from the field for 57.1 percent, while holding Ohio to 5-of-18 from the field for a .278 clip.
The Bobcats finished the game on an 11-2 run to secure the win.
The all-time series with Ohio is now 2-0 in favor of the Bobcats.
NKU had an impressive outing on the boards, outrebounding the sizable Ohio team 43-34. However, Ohio was able to use its size to its advantage in the paint, with 40 paint points compared to 12 for the Norse.
Turnovers were not kind to the Norse, as 28 miscues were turned into 31 points for Ohio.
he Norse shot 13-of-45 for the game for 28.9 percent, but had better success from 3-point range. NKU went 5-of-11 from beyond the arc for 45.5 percent.
Ohio was held to 36.9 percent, but also put up 20 more shots than the Norse, going 24-of-65 from the field.
The Norse will return to action after Thanksgiving, hosting former Atlantic Sun foe ETSU on Saturday, Nov. 26. The game will be part of a day/night doubleheader with the NKU men’s team, with the women tipping off at 1 p.m. ET.