NKU women’s basketball took a work trip down to Lexington Thursday night to showdown against the 22nd nationally-ranked University of Kentucky Wildcats.
Both offenses started slow, as the Norse’s only points in the first four minutes came from free throws by Macey Blevins and Abby Wolterman.
They were finally able to score from the field, as Kamora Morgan cashed in a jumper at the 5:28 mark. The Wildcats had their own struggles, as their first points in the paint didn’t come until the 4:39 mark in the first quarter, as Clara Strack would push the lead to 7-5 early.
The Wildcats would go on an 11-7 run to end the first quarter, as eight combined points from Strack and Teonni Key would help establish their paint presence.
However, Kalissa Lacy would step in for the Norse and provide a spark off the bench. She scored five points in the first quarter, including a buzzer-beating three at the end of the quarter to keep NKU in the game, down 18-14.
The second quarter saw the Wildcats start to pounce on their prey, as they would outscore the Norse 18-9 in the quarter. This dominant 10 minutes was largely manufactured by the pair’a Clara’s.
Strack had six points in the quarter, and Silva had six points to go along with two huge blocks, including one on Madison French’s pull-up jumper attempt.
Kentucky Head Coach Kenny Brooks praised the way Strack has made an immediate impact for this team.
“I’m tickled with her. She comes over here and we throw her right into the fire.” Brooks said. “She’s very smart, she understands everything you say.”
Georgia Amoore wanted more, as she poured on 10 of her 12 first half points in this quarter for the Wildcats, including a three pointer off a turnover with eight seconds to go in the half.
Abby Wolterman helped the Norse stay in the game with her paint presence, as she led the team in scoring with four points in the quarter. NKU would head into the half trailing 36-23.
The third quarter saw more two-point dominance, as Dazia Lawrence and Silva outscored the Norse by themselves, 13-12. Lawrence started off hot, with seven points in just over the first three minutes. Silva saw her dominance late in the quarter, as she had her six points in the final five minutes which included a big second-chance bucket.
Idowu had early strength, as she made a tough bucket and tagged on the free throw. Lacy led NKU in scoring in the quarter, with five points including a jumper off a Wildcats turnover early in the third.
However, UK would still hold the lead, extending it to 53-35 heading into the final quarter of play.
The fourth saw the Clara extravaganza continue. Strack had six points and a block in the quarter, and her paint partner Silva put up four points to go with three more blocks, adding to her game-high five blocks. The Norse could only watch as the Wildcats ran out the rest of the clock to be the victors 70-41.
NKU would outscore UK in second chance points, 12-6. However, the Wildcats posted 16 blocks in this game to the Norse’s one, and 42 points in the paint to NKU’s 24.
The Norse also failed to score any fast break points, while the Wildcats hung 10 in the game.
The Norse will play the final game of their brief two-game road trip on Sunday against Marshall and will look to get their first win of the season. The game tips off at 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.