Trailing by five points with 5:06 remaining, NKU rallied in the final minutes Sunday afternoon to defeat Indiana State 73-67.

With the win, the Norse improve to 2-0 on the young season. They needed a fourth-quarter rally to remain unbeaten.

Rianna Gayheart got a big steal and a basket at the beginning of the fourth to give the Norse some momentum.

“At the beginning of the fourth, our kids came out and really strung together some stops,” NKU Head Coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “That was really important for our confidence and composure.”

Molly Glick then scored on a contested shot around the basket to get the score to 59-57 with 5:19 left in the game.

Alexis Newbolt countered with a three for the Sycamores. This gave Indiana State a five-point lead with 5:06 remaining.

Christine Roush then made a pair of free throws to get the deficit back to one possession.  Roush was on the scoring end of a Gayheart assist to pull the Norse within a point.

After a stop on defense, Kasey Uetrecht made a huge three to put NKU up 64-62 with 2:25 left.

Following a Sycamore steal and basket to tie the game at 64, Rebecca Lyttle came right back and made a jump shot to give the Norse the lead again. Uetrecht then made a layup to give the Norse a four-point lead with under a minute left.

NKU sealed the game at the free-throw line. Uetrecht made 3 of 4 down the stretch, and on her miss, Lyttle got the offensive board and was fouled and made her two free throws. In the end, NKU outscored Indiana State 22-12 in the final period.

“I feel very fortunate to come out on top against a very good Indiana State team,” Plitzuweit said.

Uetrecht led the Norse in scoring with 18 points and 9 rebounds while Lyttle put up 17 points and 9 rebounds. Glick finished the game with 12 points while Roush had 15 points and 9 rebounds.

The home opener for the NKU women did not start off as they had hoped with Indiana State jumping out to an 8-0 lead. The Norse were missing some easy shots and letting Indiana State get to the basket easily.

“We were getting good shots early, but we were just missing them,” Plitzuweit said.

But the Norse responded with a basket by Mikayla Terry and two made free throws by Lyttle. NKU then tied it up at eight with baskets by Terry and Roush. A Norse steal led to a fast-break opportunity and a layup and free-throw from Lyttle.

Lyttle, a transfer student from Michigan, was making her first start for the Norse.

“I was attacking the basket and trying to get their shot blockers into foul trouble,” Lyttle said.

Christine Roush then nailed a three-pointer, a layup and a jump shot on three straight possessions at the end of the quarter to push the Norse lead to 18-14.

Lyttle started the second quarter with an emphatic block that led to a Norse basket. Uetrecht decided to join the scoring party by pulling off a nice post move basket and then finishing on a fast break.

The Sycamores were down 18-25 and then proceed to go on a 12-0 run over the course of about 4 minutes. Indiana State started the run with two quick threes by Joyea Marshall and Cierra Ceazer which gave the Sycamores a 26-25 lead with 4:35 left before halftime. The lead expanded to 30-25 and this prompted Coach Plitzuweit to call a timeout. NKU finally put an end to the drought with three-point play  Uetrecht. Indiana State responded with a three by Alexis Newbolt.

Molly Glick matched the previous three from the Sycamores with a three of her own to cut the Sycamore lead to two  with 1:07 left before halftime. The Sycamores scored and then Mikayla Terry made a jumper right before the half.

The Sycamores led 35-33  at halftime. Uetrecht was the leading scorer and rebounder for the Norse at the half with 10 points and 6 boards. While Indiana State’s Ceazer was the leading scorer with 12.

The Norse started the third quarter with an 11-4 run.  Molly Glick scored 7 out of the 11 NKU points.

But then momentum shifted and the Sycamores got two big turnovers on defense and converted them both into fast-break layups to take the lead 47-45 at the three-minute mark in the third. The Norse and Sycamores were trading free throws to end the quarter, but then Webb drained a 3 for Indiana State right before the end of the third to give the Sycamores a 55-51 lead.

NKU’s next game is 7 p.m. Wednesday. They travel to Fifth Third Arena to take on the University of Cincinnati.

Summary

@ BB&T Arena, Highland Heights, Ky.

Northern Kentucky 73, Indiana State 67

I – 14 – 21 – 20 – 12 — 67
N – 18 – 15 – 18 – 22 — 73

(67) INDIANA STATE (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Marshall 7-2-1-17, Dirks 0-0-2-2, Newbolt 5-3-0-13, Ceazer 6-1-5-18, Mackowiak 2-0-3-7, Webb 1-1-0-3, Wentland 0-0-1-1, Smith 3-0-0-6. TOTALS 24-7-12-67.

(73) NORTHERN KENTUCKY (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Lyttle 5-0-7-17, Uetrecht 6-2-4-18, Glick 5-2-0-12, Roush 6-1-2-15, Terry 2-0-0-4, Gayheart 1-0-0-2, Franson 0-0-5-5. TOTALS 25-5-18-73.

FIELD GOALS: I 24/57 (Marshall 7/13, Ceazer 6/13, Newbolt 5/9); N 25/67 (Uetrecht 6/11, Roush 6/13, Lyttle 5/12, Glick 5/14)

3 POINT FIELD GOALS: I 7/19 (Newbolt 3/6, Marshall 2/4); N 5/20 (Uetrecht 2/4, Glick 2/6)

FREE THROWS: I 12/16 (Ceazer 5/6, Mackowiak 3/4); N 18/22 (Lyttle 7/9, Franson 5/6, Uetrecht 4/5)

REBOUNDS: I 32 (Marshall 10, Smith 5, Ceazer 4, Mackowiak 4); N 49 (Roush 10, Lyttle 9, Uetrecht 7, Terry 5, Franson 5)

ASSISTS: I 11 (Mackowiak 7); N 10 (Gayheart 5)

STEALS: I 6 (Mackowiak 3); N 13 (Uetrecht 4, Roush 4, Gayheart 3)

BLOCKED SHOTS: I 8 (Marshall 2, Dirks 2, Mackowiak 2); N 6 (Lyttle 2, Roush 2)

TURNOVERS: I 20; N 18