NKU’s season comes to an end in Indianapolis against the no. 4 IUPUI Jaguars in the first round of Motor City Madness, 44-60. The Norse end the season with an 11-18 overall record and 10-8 conference record. The Jaguars advance to play Wright State in the semi finals of the Horizon League championship.

Freshman point guard Taylor Clos led the night with 13 points and two steals. Redshirt junior Molly Glick added 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Sophomore forward Grayson Rose led the Norse in rebound with 7 and contributed 7 points on the scoreboard.

The first quarter of the game started off slow as both teams struggled to score.  The Norse didn’t score well into the first two minutes of play by a jumper from Clos. The quarter ended 8-12 with IUPUI leading. The Norse shot 23.1 percent from the floor while the Jaguars shot 23.5 percent.  

The second quarter, the scoring became somewhat better. The Norse outscored the Jaguars 14-12.  Clos scored the last six points for the Norse bringing her points to eight scored in the half. The Norse end the half down by two, 22-24.

The Norse shot 30 percent from the field for the half, while the Jaguars shot 33.3 percent. From the three point line neither team shot well, they only made one a piece.

The two teams remained evenly matched as they alternated scoring before the Jaguars scored a 6-0 run in the third quarter. The Jaguars continued to increase their lead by going on a 12-0 run during the fourth quarter. After the run the Norse couldn’t gain any traction ending the game 44-60.

The Norse were able to convert several Jaguar turnovers into 14 points.The Jaguars out-rebounded the Norse 41-25 and outscored the Norse in the paint 34-22.

This marked the end of the Norse 2019 season and senior guard Taryn Taugher’s career for the team. Taugher ended her career playing 82 games, contributed 500 points, 209 rebounds and 69 assists. Taugher ranks eighth in NKU’s all-time record book for career free-throw percentage with 80.9 percent.