Northern Kentucky Women’s basketball team looked to break its six-game losing streak as the Norse took on Ball State.
The Cardinals hit the first shot of the night, NKU’s Kamora Morgan answered with a layup. Jaci Jones was then fouled on a shot and converted on both her free throws to give the Norse an early lead, before hitting her first three-pointer of the night to extend the Norse’s 9-5 lead. Ball State’s Grace Kingery quickly responded with back-to-back threes to ignite a 14-0 run as Ball State led 18-9.
Noelle Hubert broke the Norse’s scoring drought with a three to send them on a 7-0 run. NKU’s Anna Hamilton made a layup to make it a one possession game as the Norse trailed 18-16 at the end of the first quarter.
As the second quarter started, the Norse had no defensive answer for Kingery, as she shot 5-8 from three, totaling 17 points in the first half to give the Cardinals their first double digit lead of the night. The Cardinals extended their lead to 40-20 while the Norse could not get anything going on either side of the ball. The Norse remained scoreless for six minutes, shooting just 32% from the field. With one minute left in the half, NKU’s Mya Meredith knocked down a shot to spark a 7-0 run to end the half.
Both teams headed into the locker room with Ball State leading 40-27.
The Norse’s offensive spark continued into the third quarter as Kamora Morgan converted on a Ball State turnover, followed by a three and a layup from Jones as the Norse now trailed by single digits 40-34.
It didn’t take long for the Cardinals offensive flow to return, as Kingrey knocked down another three to start a 11-0 run to regain their double digit lead 50-34. The Cardinals continued to be unstoppable on offense, racking up a 64-40 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Cardinals continued to cruise on offense in the fourth quarter, climbing to their largest lead of the night 71-44. With the Norse only making three shots from the field in the final quarter they were never able to find an offensive rhythm to comeback.
The Norse shot just 29% throughout the game and committed 17 turnovers while only recording seven assists.
The Cardinals took the 77-51 win as NKU fell to 2-9 on the year.
Jaci Jones hit a career high 16 points as she led the Norse, shooting 8-8 from the free throw line.
The Norse will travel to California this week to take on UC San Diego Thursday. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.