The NKU women’s basketball team forced overtime with Murray State, but couldn’t keep up with the Racers down the stretch, falling 72-69. NKU falls to 2-1 while the Racers move to 5-4.

“We are disappointed with the loss,” head coach Camyrn Whitaker said. “Our team continues to work hard and give a great effort on the floor and that is encouraging to me.”

Once again, the Norse defense held a team below their season scoring average, despite being outscored in the paint 38-28. Murray State, who averages 76 points per game, was held to 72 points in five quarters and shot 43 percent for the game. 

“We take pride in our defense,” senior guard Shar’Rae Davis said. “Were aren’t the most athletic team so we want to be good at defense.”

The Norse also grabbed 19 offensive rebounds which led to 15 second chance points.

 Mikalya Terry carried the Norse for much of this game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 17 rebounds for her first career double double. Davis followed with 13 points.

The offense as a whole, however, continued to struggle for long stretches of this game. The Norse shot 34 percent from the field, but shot just 28 and 26 percent in the first and third quarters respectively. The Norse did not make their first field goal until four minutes left in the first quarter.

“Coaches says our offense is going to click and honestly I feel it is going to work and is working. We are scoring more points each game. We are just missing shots. We had open threes and missed easy layups.”

Free throw shooting has been a trouble spot for this team in the first nine games of the season and tonight was no different. While the Norse got to the line 31 times, they only made 19 of those attempts, which would prove to be a huge difference. 

“We try to make more free throws than our opponents attempt and we did that tonight,” Whitaker said. “That percentage needs to go up and we talked about that in the locker room.” 

The Norse came back several times throughout the game, including a 6-0 run to end the first half. The Norse even took a 58-57 lead with two minutes left in regulation after a Hayley Combs three. Each time the Racers would come back and open up another seven or nine point lead.

“Fatigue is a factor,” Whitaker said. “Kelly played 40 minutes, Mikayla played 45 minutes and didn’t come out of the game. Transition defense hurt us as well. We would score and then they would shove it back down our throats.”

This happened again in overtime, when Ke’shunan James and LeAsia Wright combined for nine points in overtime, and helped the Racers open up a seven point lead. The Norse would battle back, but a Kasey Uetrecht three rimmed out as time expired to seal the loss for NKU. 

“It’s a tough loss,” senior guard Kelly Wiegman said, “We definitely worked for that one and wanted that one. We are going to go out and face tomorrow and we’re going to give it all we got. It doesn’t really change much.” 

James would finish with 24 points and eight rebounds while Wright finished with 22 points, including four three point baskets. 

After this loss, the Norse are left searching for ways to win games. 

“We were there the whole game,” Davis said. “As much as this hurts it gives us an opportunity to learn. We have to learn about what caused us to lose. We have to do better.” 

The Norse won’t play again until Dec. 19, when they begin play in Las Vegas against Portland State as part of the Puerto Rico Classic. 

“One day it’s going to click,” Whitaker said. “No one feels sorry for us. We don’t feel sorry for ourselves. We just have to go back to work and outwork every opponent we play.”