Previous week recap:

Wednesday, Jan. 15

Women’s basketball lost to Youngstown State on the road 75-66. Kalissa Lacy scored 19 points including four first-half threes. Her 19 points tied a career-high, one she set back in December against La Salle. She added five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Mya Meredith dropped 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. She’s reached double-digit points in four of her last five games. Halle Idowu came close to a double-double once again, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring nine points. Idowu also recorded a team-high three assists.  

Men’s basketball lost to Cleveland State 76-58. Keeyan Itejere finished the night with 11 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, and three blocked shots. Sam Vinson had an efficient shooting night, going 6-11 from the floor with 17 points. Trey Robinson put together a solid second half to finish with 16 points. NKU was outrebounded 35-31, with CSU scoring 19 second-chance points on 16 offensive rebounds.

Men’s tennis lost to seventh-ranked Kentucky 7-0 in their first game of the season. Doubles Competition 

1. Jaden Weekes/Charlelie Cosnet (UK) defeated Xavier Ecarma/Jackson Poulos (NKU) 6-4 
2. Matt Rankin/Eli Stephenson (UK) defeated Jacob Rouleau-Mailly/Hector Salvador (NKU) 6-1 
3. Blessing Nwaozuzu/Abigail Siminski (UK) defeated Emilio Bravo/Joao Pimenta (NKU) 6-2 

Singles Competition 

1. #79 Charlelie Cosnet (UK) defeated Jacob Rouleau-Mailly (NKU) 6-4, 6-1 
2. Jack Loutit (UK) defeated Emilio Bravo (NKU) 6-1, 6-2 
3. Eli Stephenson (UK) defeated Xavier Ecarma (NKU) 6-0, 6-1 
4. Matt Rankin (UK) defeated Jackson Poulos (NKU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Martin Breysach (UK) defeated Joao Pimenta (NKU) 8-2
6. Eric Crivei (UK) defeated Eric Crivei (NKU) 8-1 

Friday, Jan. 17

Women’s tennis fell to Eastern Kentucky University 6-1. 

Doubles Competition 

1. Masha Fedenko/Anastas Cherniakova (EKU) defeated Mariajose Hernandez/Catharina Cardoso (NKU) 6-0
2. Ashlee Fisk/Darya Gneydina (NKU) defeated Marilou Cote/Zhansaya Bakytzhan (EKU), 7-5.

Singles Competition 

1. Ashlee Fisk (NKU)  defeated Masha Fedenko (EKU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Marilou Cote (EKU) defeated Darya Gneydina (NKU) 1-6, 6-0, 6-4
3. Zhansaya Bakytzhan (EKU)  defeated Catharina Cardoso (NKU) 6-1, 6-4 
4. Anastas Cherniakova (EKU)  defeated Mariajose Hernandez (NKU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Izem Elif Olcer (EKU)  defeated Didi Steenhuis (NKU) 6-2, 6-0

Men’s and women’s track and field competed at the Bellarmine Open. Both women’s and men’s teams did not register a score, but Olivia Kennedy was the lone event victor for the Norse as she captured a 400m title, running a 57.85. Junior sprinter Meredith Goff finished fourth in the 60m dash, posting a 7.89 mark. Madison McDaniel followed up Goff in the race in 8th place, running an 8.14. Sierra Kendall finished top 5 in multiple events, following up Kennedy’s win in the 400m with a fourth-place finish (1:01.21) and fourth in the 60m hurdles, running a 9.34. In the high jump, NKU recorded top-three finishes on both sides. For the men, Kaden Gardner finished in second, recording a jump of 1.95m, while Madison Neary finished in third in the women’s competition with a jump of 1.58m. Cameron Bitterman ran a 25.42 split in the 200m, fourth among all 28 competitors in the event. Jacob Line finished eighth in the mile, running a 4:16.99. Also in the men’s mile, Samsun Weldemichael and Brady Messer recorded top-15 finishes, running a 4:23.23 and a 4:26.61, respectively. Men’s XC standouts Natnael Weldemichael and Colton O’Hara both placed top five in the 3000m, with Weldemichael running an 8:17.38, finishing in 2nd, while O’Hara finished in fifth with a time of 8:39.97. The women did well in the 3000m, as Grace Biddle (4th, 10:17.92) and Brittany Arnold (8th, 10:38.31) both placed inside the top ten. Senior Hope Erbach ran a 2:29.8 in the 800m, a fifth-place finish. Brayden Holland was the lone Norse to run in the men’s 800m, finishing in 2:00.66, an eighth-place finish. Kierra Morris recorded a leap of 5.18m in the long jump, good for fifth place. In the triple jump, freshmen Alden Williams and Evan Talley both finished in the top ten, with Williams recording a 12.90m leap (5th) and Talley jumping 12.34m (8th). Dieondre Keller cleared 3.65m in the pole vault, as the freshman finished in seventh place in the event.

Saturday, Jan. 18

Men’s and women’s swimming had a meet at Bellarmine with a final score of men’s: NKU- 50, Bellarmine – 203 Women’s NKU – 4, Bellarmine – 213. Frank Runge had a third-place finish in the 1000 Free (10:00.41).  Ethan Johnson finished third in the 200 fly (2:05.42). Patrick Gibbons finished fourth in the 100-yard free but was just 0.8 seconds behind the first-place finisher (47.54). Tyler Cukovecki finished fourth in the 200 -ard breaststroke (2:18.48).  Frank Runge finished second in the 500-yard free (4:47.73). NKU’s A team in the 200-yard free relay finished fifth with a 1:28.67 time. The team consisted of Patrick Gibbons, Conner Norton, Ben Jorgensen, and Jeffrey Wenker.

Men’s basketball lost the Battle of I-75 against Wright State 78-70. Keeyan Itejere finished with a near double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds while blocking three shots. Dan Gherezgher made an impact off the bench for NKU, scoring seven points and dishing out three assists with just one turnover. Josh Dilling and Trey Robinson led NKU in scoring, with 17 points a piece. Dilling also made four three-pointers, shooting the ball efficiently. 

Women’s basketball lost against Purdue Fort Wayne 76-52. Mya Meredith led the Norse with 17 points, going 8-15 from the field, and grabbing four rebounds. Meredith has now scored in double figures in five of her last six games. Halle Idowu finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, and a career-high seven assists, and two steals. Kamora Morgan came off the bench and scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. The Norse got off to a hot start, shooting 11-16 from the floor and 4-6 from three in the first quarter. They cooled off in the second, shooting 38%, but going 5-32 overall and 1-14 from three in the second half killed any chance of an NKU comeback.

Sports this week:

Monday, Jan. 20 

• Women’s tennis at Dayton in Dayton, Ohio at 11 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 22

• Men’s tennis at Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky. at 12 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 23

• Women’s basketball takes on Milwaukee at home at 6 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 24

• Men’s and women’s track and field will compete in the Bellarmine Classic in Louisville, Ky.
• Men’s basketball will face off against Milwaukee at home at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 25

•  Men’s and women’s swimming has a meet at the University of Indianapolis.
• Women’s basketball will play against Green Bay at home at 1 p.m.