---Angela Healy drives vs. Ohio Dominican.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team will host the Travel America Classic Dec. 17-18 in Regents Hall. The Norse meet Fayetteville (N.C.) State at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17.

NKU concludes the two-day event Dec. 18 by playing St. Andrews (N.C.) at 7:30 p.m. Kentucky Wesleyan is the fourth team in the Travel America Classic and begins the event at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 17 against St. Andrews. The Panthers meet Fayetteville State at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 18.

The NKU games can be heard live on the Internet at www.nkunorse.com. NKU enters the two-day event with a 5-1 record. The Norse are ranked 13th nationally in the latest NCAA Division II poll.

NAIA BUSTERS: NKU defeated a pair of nationally ranked NAIA squads - No. 19 Georgetown (Ky.) and No. 9 Ohio Dominican - before taking off for final exams. The Norse posted a 72-58 win over Georgetown on Dec. 5, and followed that with a 75-63 victory over previously unbeaten Ohio Dominican on Dec. 8.

Cassie Brannen shot 80 percent from the field and averaged 14 points per game in those two victories. The junior post player began by going 5-for-5 from the field and scoring 14 points against Georgetown. She also had two blocked shots and five rebounds in that win.

During NKU's win over Ohio Dominican, Brannen netted 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field with two blocked shots. Brannen is shooting 65.9 percent from the field and leads the Great Lakes Valley Conference in that category. The Mount Notre Dame High School product averages 12.7 ppg and is No. 3 in the GLVC in blocked shots (1.67 bpg).

INSIDE UNIT: Angela Healy is No. 2 in the GLVC in rebounding at 9.8 rpg. The senior center from Highlands High School also averages 16.7 ppg and has scored 852 career points entering the Travel America Classic.

POINT WELL TAKEN: Senior point guard Nicole Chiodi averages 11.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg and a team-leading 4.0 assists per game. Chiodi also leads NKU with 13 steals and averages a GLVC-best 37 minutes playing time per game.

OFFENSIVE MACHINE: NKU junior guard Jessie Slack averages 13.8 ppg and has made a team-leading 10 3-pointers. Slack also has 14 assists and nine steals this season.

---Cassie Brannen averages 12.7 ppg.

LONG-RANGE DUO: NKU guards Danyelle Echoles and Rachel Lantry each scored 11 points off the bench to key the Norse’s win over Ohio Dominican. Echoles, who averages 7.2 ppg, buried a trio of 3-pointers against the Panthers.
Lantry, who averages 3.5 ppg, also drained three treys against Ohio Dominican en route to her career-best 11 points.

ABOUT FAYETTEVILLE STATE: The Lady Broncos, members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, are 5-1 overall. Jamar McMillan leads Fayetteville State in scoring at 12.2 ppg. Tenisha McArthur averages 11.0 ppg and 7.2 rebounds per contest.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST FAYETTEVILLE STATE: On Dec. 13, 2003, Connie Myers scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half as NKU defeated Fayetteville State, 82-67, in the championship game of the Community Recorder Classic in Regents Hall.

After Fayetteville State closed to within 35-33 early in the second half on a basket by Monica Mason, Myers keyed a 15-0 NKU run by scoring eight points. She powered her way for three straight inside baskets, and Nikki Perkins capped the Norse spurt with a 3-pointer to give NKU a 50-33 lead.

NKU led by a many as 20 points in the second half and captured the Community Recorder Classic championship for the third time in four years. Perkins finished with 20 points and four assists for the Norse.

Myers grabbed 11 rebounds for NKU, and she made 11-of-15 free throws. She also added four steals and a blocked shot. NKU bolted out to a 22-7 lead early in the game as Jessica Brock hit a trio of 3-point shots. Fayetteville State, however, used its full-court pressure to force NKU into 17 first-half turnovers and closed the margin to 35-31 at halftime.

NKU solved the full-court pressure in the second half and made 59.3 percent of its shots from the field during the final 20 minutes. Sharell Snardon scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, and she finished with 10 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season.

Brock added nine points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots for NKU, and Elizabeth Burrows had seven points, five assists and five rebounds. NKU held Fayetteville State to just 29.1 percent shooting from the field and won the rebounding battle by a 52-34 margin.