Norse women fall to Indiana
The NKU women’s basketball team (1-7 overall) fell to the Indiana Hoosiers, 67-56, on Saturday night at BB&T arena.
Molly Glick led the Norse with 17 points and eight rebounds. Glick was 5-of-13 from the field overall while freshman forward Kailey Coffey had a balanced game with seven points, four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
“Every game is a great opportunity,” Glick said. “After last year, we came into tonight’s game with lots of energy, ready to go.”
The Hoosiers (6-4 overall) were led by senior guard Tyra Buss who finished the game with 25 points and four rebounds. Forwards Amanda Cahill and Kym Royster each posted 12 points respectively. Cahill narrowly missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds and three assists.
“We competed with a very good Indiana team,” head coach Camryn Whitaker said. “We are improving every day and that’s what we are focused on.”
Buss and Cahill helped the Hoosiers build an 8-4 lead midway through the first. However, the Norse would hold the Hoosiers without a field-goal for the final 5:34 of the quarter to take an early 9-8 lead. This was the second time this season that the Hoosiers were held under 10 points in a quarter this season. The first came against Auburn on Dec. 3rd.
Indiana came out of the gates firing in the second quarter to take an early 14-9 lead after a 6-0 run. NKU would tie things up midway through before Buss countered with a three and pushed the lead to as many as five with 2:28 remaining. The Norse would close the half on a 7-1 run behind Glick and Coffey to take a 25-24 lead going into the break. The Norse shot 6-of-13 in the second but finished the half only shooting 32% from the floor.
“I thought we got tired and a little stagnant on offense,” Whitaker said. “At halftime, we really tried to emphasize attacking the basket, getting to the free-throw line, making good cuts and setting good screens.”
In the third, the lead would exchange four times and featured four ties until the Hoosiers would go ahead 32-30 after a pair of free throws from Buss. A floater by Bendu Yeaney and a late three by Cahill would push the Hoosier lead to five, 42-37 heading into the fourth.
The Hoosiers carried their offensive momentum from the third and amped up their defense to go on an 8-0 run and take the lead, 50-37, in the fourth. The Hoosiers would build their largest lead of the night after three consecutive buckets from Cahill, Yeaney and Buss to go up 56-40 midway through. The Norse would bring the lead back down to single digits late in the game, but the Hoosiers proved to be too much and iced the game, going 8-8 from the line in the final minute.
“Every day is just another opportunity to step on the floor and get better,” said Whitaker. “This is our process, we are building and today we got better.”
The Norse shot 33.3 percent) from the floor and shot 10-13 from the free throw line. Indiana shot 42.9 percent from the floor and went 23-29 from the line. Indiana would narrowly win the rebounding margin, 37-34.
“We just have to keep working and focus on the details,” Glick said. “We just need to focus on the full forty minutes and keep pushing through.”
The Norse return to action on Tuesday, Dec.19th as they travel to Jacksonville, Florida to square off against the Ospreys of North Florida. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN3.