It is a new era in Highland Heights for the NKU women’s basketball team. The Lady Norse are set to kick off the 2024-25 basketball season under first-year Head Coach Jeff Hans. The Norse were picked 7th in the Horizon League Preseason Poll. They are looking to bounce back coming off a 11-20 season in 2023-24.
Before Hans took the NKU job, he spent the last 13 seasons at Thomas More University where he led the Saints to an overall record of 339-42, eight regular season conference titles and two Division III national championships. With Hans leading the Norse this upcoming season, he brings in talented players to the roster. The Norse will be without two of their top scorers from last season Carter McCray who transferred to Wisconsin and Khamari Mitchell-Steen who transferred to Florida Gulf Coast. They bring in six new players to Highland Heights and return nine players from last season.
Meet the new players
Kamora Morgan is a freshman guard out of Fort Erie International Academy in Fort Erie, Ontario. This past season, Morgan averaged 11.7 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals, 1.7 assists and shot 41.1% from beyond the arc while attending Fort Erie. Morgan was selected to play in the All-Canadian Senior Showcase game and was one of the top 24 seniors in the entire country of Canada.
Anna Hamilton is a freshman point guard from Hebron, Kentucky. In Hamilton’s three seasons at Conner High School, she had a record of 52-24 heading into her senior year. Hamilton won a handful of awards at Conner, as she was selected to the all-district team 22-Ky Girls selection,rewarded the Paul Clifton Free Throw Award, a two-time NKY Coaches Association All-Conference selection and a two-time NKY First Team All-Ninth Region selection.
Sydney Martin is a freshman guard out of Pulaski High School in Somerset, Kentucky. Martin was named the Commonwealth Journal girls’ basketball player of the year for the second year in a row. She averaged 21.5 points per game during her senior year, which ranked her 23rd in the state of Kentucky, she had a team high 7.7 rebounds, shot 49% from the field and shot 35.4% from beyond the arc.
Jaci Jones is a transfer joining the Norse this season. Prior to committing to NKU, Jones spent four years at IU Indy playing in 87 games and making 18 starts. Last season, she averaged 22 minutes per game and was second on the team in assists with 56. Jones played high school basketball at South Side in Fort Wayne, Indiana, putting up 950 points and 238 assists.
Abby Wolterman spent her first two years at IU Indy before transferring to NKU this season. Wolterman averaged 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists. At IU Indy, she had 335 points, 206 rebounds, 48 assists, 34 steals and 11 blocks. She shot 51.1% from the field and 31.3% from beyond the arc.
Halle Idowu is a graduate transfer from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. In Idowu’s two seasons at Northeastern, she put up 177 points and 222 rebounds, leading the Huskies in rebounds and blocks. She attended Harold L. Richards High School outside of Chicago. In her four years, she had a school record of 1,853 points and 1,065 rebounds. She even won the All-South Suburban Conference Player of the Year as a senior.
Players Returning
Noelle Hubert is returning for her sophomore season for the Norse. Hubert is a Burlington, Kentucky native and attended Notre Dame Academy. In her first year at NKU, she was ranked second in three-pointers made, making 49 triples, averaging 5.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game and scored a season-high 18 points against the Milwaukee Panthers, knocking down six out of nine three-pointers.
Madison French is a returning sophomore for the Norse this season. In her freshman season, she appeared in seven games and averaged 7.6 minutes per game. She finished her season with seven rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Gabby Razzono is returning for her sophomore season. Last season, she appeared in 28 games, making two starts and shot .611 from the field and .375 from three-point range, Razzono averaged 1.9 points per game, 1.7 rebounds per game and scored eight points and four rebounds versus Oakland.
Allison Basye is a 5’11” junior guard this season for the Norse. Last season, she appeared in 24 games, making eight starts. She had three games with double figures, which included a career-high 18 points versus Cleveland State. Bayse averaged four points and 2.3 rebounds per game and scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds against Chattanooga.
Macey Blevins returns for her senior year for the Norse. Last season, Blevins ranked third in scoring, averaging 12.9 points per game, and third in three-pointers made, making 41 shots from beyond the arc. She also ranked second on the team in assists, with a total of 77, and had two 30-plus point performances, with 31 versus Robert Morris and 30 against Oakland.
Kailee Davis is a senior guard this season for the Norse. Last season, Davis led the Norse in three-point shooting, knocking down 51 from beyond the arc, she averaged 10.2 points per game which was fourth on the team, and ranked third in assists, with a total of 69.
Kalissa Lacy is a senior guard from Charleston, West Virginia. Last season, Lacy played 29 games, including three starts, shot 32% from beyond the arc, while averaging 4.3 points and 1.7 rebounds points per game. She scored a career-best 16 points versus Kentucky State.
Paige Hodgson is a senior forward from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Hodgson appeared in 18 games off the bench last season and scored six points on the season.
Mya Meredith is a senior guard for the Norse. In her junior season, she did not see any action due to an injury. Before NKU, she spent her first two years at Western Kentucky University. In her freshman year, she averaged 12.7 and 5.1 rebounds per game and was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year, despite missing the last eight games due to an injury. In her sophomore season, she was WKU’s third-leading scorer and was ranked second in rebounds.
The Norse will begin the regular season against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Monday Nov. 4 at Truist Arena at 6 p.m.