NKU Women’s basketball ends weekend 2-0 with Detroit Mercy win

The Northern Kentucky women’s basketball team collected their second win of the weekend on Saturday. The Norse won by a score of 72-60 against Detroit Mercy, with the victory the Norse improve to 11-9 on the season. 

Freshman guard Carissa Garcia led the charge for the Norse with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Redshirt senior guard Molly Glick contributed 16 points of her own thanks to shooting a 60 percent clip. 

After trailing for much of the first quarter the Norse went on a 10-3 run to pull ahead 16-15 at the end of the period. 

In the second period the Norse forced six Titan turnovers and were dominant in the paint, outscoring Detroit 10-2. The Black & Gold used this low post offense to grow their lead to as large as nine at one point before heading into the intermission up 33-26. 

“Our defensive intensity and getting those steals will lead to offense,” Glick said. “I think focusing on stopping the ball in transition and just playing solid defense without fouling helps us push more and create open shots.”

At halftime Head Coach Camryn Whitaker challenged her team to crash the offensive glass better than the first half. 

“We’re the second best offensive rebounding team in the league,” Whitaker said. “We weren’t crashing the way we are capable of, and that is how we get extra possessions when our shooting is down.”

Coming out of intermission the Norse and Titans traded buckets, before the Titans went on a 7-0 run to pull within one point of the Norse. The Norse did not panic however continuing to execute their low post offense very well and grew their lead back to nine and outscored the Titans 13-5 over the final four minutes of the third quarter. 

“Another game where I feel like we just had to really grind it out,” Whitaker said. “We had different people step up today.” 

For the third straight game the Black and Gold were up nine heading into the fourth quarter. The Titans never got any closer than seven points in the final quarter. During the final period the Norse scored 12 points from their bench and did not turn the ball over once. 

“I think what makes a great team is people that can come off the bench and give us that energy,” Garcia said. 

Next up for the Norse is a rematch with Milwaukee, Thursday night at BB&T Arena. The Norse won the first matchup in Milwaukee on Dec. 30. Tip is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.