By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
The NKU women’s basketball team hopes to build on last year’s final charge for a 17-14 team (10-10 in the Horizon League) that made it to the conference semifinals. But the Norse will be doing so with an almost new roster.
One starter, and just one senior, among three veterans return. Five freshmen and three transfers finish out a squad that Coach Camryn (Whitaker) Volz, now in her seventh season leading the Norse, notes that she’ll have three new assistant coaches as well.
NKU women’s basketball coach Camryn Volz and player Kennedy Igo. (Photo by Dan Weber/NKyTribune)
“It’s now about taking the next step,” Volz says after last year’s semifinal tournament loss to Cleveland State, although with Green Bay and CSU picked 1-2 in the preseason poll with NKU No. 5 behind Youngstown State and Purdue Fort Wayne, that will take some doing.
A big part of that might come from assistant coach Doug Novak, who has had more than 30 years of college coaching experience including stints with the Mississippi State women and the Tulane, Citadel and NAIA power Bethel men’s programs.
Novak will bring with him a new-look “four-out, one in motion offense,” Volz says. “I’d call it an equal opportunity offense with a me-first attitude.”
Kailee Davis (NKU photo)
First in line to benefit from the offense should be 5-foot-2 junior point guard Kailee Davis, a Detroit product selected to the preseason second-team all-league after a season averaging 13.4 points a game while hitting 1.81 three-pointers a game and finishing sixth in the league with 87 assists.
“I have to lead by example,” Davis says of this new group around her.
Then there are the three transfers: 5-foot-11 junior guard Mya Meredith, a Scott High alum by way of Western Kentucky and 5-10 guard Macey Blevins, also a junior from WKU, out of Allen County High School. Eastern Kentucky transfer Kalissa Lacy, a 5-9 junior guard and “40 percent three-point shooter,” Volz says, from Charleston, W. Va., rounds out the transfer trio.
“All three of our transfers and three of our freshmen will have an impact,” Volz says. One of those will be Notre Dame Academy’s 5-11 forward Noelle Hubert. “A phenomenal shooter,” Volz calls her.
Noelle Hubert
The lone senior will be 5-7 guard Kennedy Igo out of Mount Sterling, who Volz describes as “tough . . . one of the fiercest competitors I’ve watched play the game in a while . . . a natural leader.”
As for this team overall, “our bench will be a little bit deeper,” Volz says, “and if we keep the intensity of last year,” they’ll have a chance against what Volz calls “a tough schedule.”
There are road games at Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Tennessee Tech and a tournament game at Daytona Beach against Pittsburgh before getting into Horizon League play.
“Winning some of the close games will be really important,” Volz says.
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2023-24 Under Armour Preseason Poll
Pl. Team – Pts. (First-place votes)
1. Green Bay (11) – 121
2. Cleveland State – 107
3. Youngstown State – 95
4. Purdue Fort Wayne – 90
5. Northern Kentucky – 63
6. Milwaukee – 59
7. Wright State – 54
8. Oakland – 53
9. IUPUI – 49
10. Detroit Mercy – 21
11. RMU – 14
Mya Meridith
NKU 2023-24 Women’s Basketball Schedule
Nov 2 (Thu) 7 PM Home Cedarville (Exhibition)
Nov 6 (Mon) 7 PM Home Indiana State
Nov 11 (Sat) 2 PM Away Eastern Kentucky
Nov 18 (Sat) 2 PM Home Marshall
Nov 24 (Fri) 3:30 PM Daytona Beach, Fla. Pittsburgh
Nov 25 (Sat) 8 PM Daytona Beach, Fla. Chattanooga
Dec 2 (Sat) 2 PM Home Cleveland State
Dec 6 (Wed) 7 PM Away Illinois
Dec 9 (Sat) 4:30 PM Home Kentucky State
Dec 18 (Mon) 7 PM Away Tennessee Tech
Dec 20 (Wed) 7:30 PM Away Middle Tennessee
Dec 29 (Fri) 7 PM Away Oakland
Jan 1 (Mon) 1 PM Away Detroit Mercy
Jan 5 (Fri) 7 PM Home Green Bay
Jan 7 (Sun) 2 PM Home Milwaukee
Jan 14 (Sun) 2 PM Away IUPUI
Jan 17 (Wed) 7 PM Home Robert Morris
Jan 20 (Sat) 4 PM Home Wright State
Jan 24 (Wed) 6:30 PM Away Youngstown State
Jan 27 (Sat) 2 PM Away Purdue Fort Wayne
Jan 31 (Wed) 11 AM Home Detroit Mercy
Feb 2 (Fri) 7 PM Home Oakland
Feb 8 (Thu) 8 PM Away Green Bay
Feb 10 (Sat) 3 PM Away Milwaukee
Feb 14 (Wed) 7 PM Home IUPUI
Feb 17 (Sat) 4 PM Away Wright State
Feb 21 (Wed) 7 PM Home Purdue Fort Wayne
Feb 24 (Sat) 2 PM Home Youngstown State
Feb 27 (Tue) 7 PM Away Robert Morris
Mar 2 (Sat) 2 PM Away Cleveland State
Mar 5 (Tue) TBD TBD Horizon League Tournament
2023-24 NKU Women’s Basketball Roster
Meadow Tisdale F 5-11 Fr. Bowling Green, KY / Bowling Green HS
Allison Basye G 5-11 So. Chillicothe, Ohio / Huntington
Kalissa Lacy G 5-9 Jr. Charleston, WV / George Washington HS Eastern Kentucky
Kailee Davis G 5-2 Jr. Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance
Paige Hodgson F 6-4 Jr. Beaver Dam, Wis. / Beaver Dam
Carter McCray C 6-1 Fr. Oberlin, OH / Elyria Catholic HS
Mya Meredith G 5-11 Jr. Newport, KY / Scott HS Western Kentucky
Khamari Mitchell-Steen G 5-7 Jr. Oak Ridge, Tenn. / Oak Ridge
Kennedy Igo G 5-7 Sr. Mount Sterling, Ky. / George Rogers Clark
Macey Blevins G 5-10 Jr. Monticello, KY / Wayne County HS Western Kentucky
Noelle Hubert G 5-11 Fr. Burlington, KY / Notre Dame Academy
Madison French G 5-11 Fr. Liberty Township, OH / Lakota East HS
Gabby Razzano F 6-2 Fr. Mason, OH / Mason HS
