NKU’s Karen Brackman

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team resumes Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday when Kentucky Wesleyan visits Regents Hall for a 5:30 p.m. contest.

NKU is 8-3 overall, 2-2 in the GLVC. Kentucky Wesleyan is 6-5 overall, 2-2 in the GLVC. NKU and Kentucky Wesleyan are tied for third place in the GLVC East.

The Norse will also play host to Southern Indiana at 1 p.m. Saturday. Both NKU games this week will be televised live on ICN-6.

NKU CLOSES OUT 2005 WITH WIN: On Dec. 29, NKU posted a 63-42 win over Brescia (Ky.). Angela Healy led the Norse with 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals. The sophomore center also had three blocked shots.

IN THE POST: Karmen Graham added 11 points and six rebounds for the Norse, who won the rebounding battle against Brescia by a 43-29 margin. Graham leads NKU in scoring at 15.2 points per game, and she is also the Norse’s top rebounder at 6.2 rpg.

In addition, Graham is shooting 56.6 percent from the field and has made 75.7 percent of her free throws.

THE MINSTER DUO: Minster (Ohio) High School graduates Brittany Winner and Karen Brackman played well against Brescia. Winner came off the bench and grabbed eight rebounds against Brescia. She also dished out four assists in that victory.

Brackman scored five points, had two assists and recorded two steals in 18 minutes of action in the win.

LONG-RANGE THREAT: Karyn Creager made three 3-pointers against Brescia and leads NKU with 17 3-point field goals. The junior guard is also shooting 92.3 percent from the free-throw line and averages 9.5 ppg.

NKU’s Cassie Brannen

WINSTEL GETS 480TH VICTORY AT NKU: Norse head coach Nancy Winstel recorded her 480th career victory at NKU during the win over Brescia. Winstel, who reached the 500-win plateau last season, is 519-207 in 26 seasons as a college head coach. She is 480-166 in 23 years at NKU.

BLOCK PARTY: Angela Healy ranks fourth in the GLVC in blocked shots at 1.45 bpg. Norse freshman Cassie Brannen is ninth at 0.82 bpg.

ABOUT KENTUCKY WESLEYAN: The Lady Panthers are led by Laura McClintic, who averages 14.7 ppg and 7.3 rebounds. McClintic is also 26-for-62 from 3-point range this season.

Mary Czarnecki is scoring 11.9 ppg and averages 6.5 rpg. Holly Mills is scoring 10.4 ppg, and Lauren Stewart averages 10.0 ppg.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST KENTUCKY WESLEYAN: On Feb. 5, 2005, Connie Myers scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds to lead NKU to an 83-65 win over Kentucky Wesleyan in Regents Hall.

Karyn Creager added a career-high 24 points for NKU, which shot 53.3 percent from the field. Creager also set an NKU record by extending her streak of consecutive made free throws to 21 (her streak would eventually end at 27 consecutive made free throws).

Creager also made four 3-point shots against the Kentucky Wesleyan zone defense. Sarah Woods finished with 13 points for NKU, which remained perfect (21-0) against Kentucky Wesleyan in games played in Regents Hall.

ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA: The Screaming Eagles play at Bellarmine on Thursday before facing NKU. Southern Indiana is led by Jasmine Baines, who averages 14.1 ppg and 6.1 rebounds.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST SOUTHERN INDIANA: On Feb. 3, 2005, Megan Nelson’s follow shot with 18 seconds remaining gave Southern Indiana a 60-59 win over NKU in Regents Hall.

Nelson grabbed an offensive rebound after a missed shot by Tiara Brown and scored to give Southern Indiana a 60-59 lead. NKU had two shots in the closing seconds, but a short jumper by Sarah Woods and a follow attempt by Connie Myers were both off target.

Woods scored 17 of her career-high 22 points in the second half to lead NKU. Angela Healy and Karyn Creager each added 11 points for the Norse, who held a 58-52 lead with 4:21 remaining in the game.

NKU, however, committed three turnovers in the final four minutes and was outscored 8-1 to end the game.