Feb. 28, 2000

NKU FACES IPFW IN GLVC 1ST ROUND

Norse (24-2) play at 9:30 p.m. this Wednesday (March 1)

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team won its 16th consecutive game Saturday night with a 61-48 victory at Southern Indiana. NKU enters the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a 24-2 record.

The Norse are the No. 1 seed in the GLVC Tournament and will play No. 8 seed Indiana-Purdue University at Fort Wayne in the first round this Wednesday night (March 1) at 9:30 p.m. (EST) in Roberts Stadium at Evansville, Ind.

The winner of that game will play the winner of the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville vs. Bellarmine game at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 3. The GLVC Tournament championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. on March 4.

NKU is ranked No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region poll, and the Norse will likely host the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament March 9-11 in Regents Hall. Pairings for the NCAA Tournament will be announced next Sunday (March 5) at 4 p.m.

COTTRELL TIME: NKU sophomore forward Michelle Cottrell leads the team in scoring (17.2 points per game) and rebounding (9.6 rpg). Cottrell also owns several GLVC Tournament records after being named the event’s most valuable player last season.

Cottrell owns single-game GLVC Tournament records for points (30 vs. Bellarmine in 1999) and field goals made (12 vs. Bellarmine in 1999). She also holds single-tournament records for most points (77 in 1999), most field goals made (26 in 1999) and most free throws made (25 in 1999).

Cottrell enters the GLVC Tournament with 1,045 career points at NKU. She is the first sophomore in Norse women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Cottrell also enters the GLVC Tournament with 10 double-doubles this season, and she has 24 double-doubles in her career. Cottrell has scored in double figures in 24 of the team's 26 games this season.

GLVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: NKU owns a 4-1 all-time record in the GLVC Tournament, and the Norse are the defending champions. NKU defeated Kentucky Wesleyan, Southern Indiana and Bellarmine en route to the GLVC Tournament championship last year.

In 1997-98, NKU defeated Bellarmine in the first round before losing to Southern Indiana in the GLVC semifinals.

TOUGH TO BEAT: NKU has gone 42-3 in its last 45 GLVC games, counting last season’s GLVC Tournament. The only GLVC teams to beat NKU during the past two years are SIUE, Missouri-St. Louis and Bellarmine. The loss to SIUE was at the Vadalabene Center last season by a 62-61 score. NKU lost to both Missouri-St. Louis (last season) and Bellarmine (this season) in Regents Hall.

NKU’s road record against GLVC opponents during the last two seasons is 20-1, and the Norse have won 19 straight GLVC road games. NKU’s last GLVC road loss was at SIUE.

STREAKING TO THE FINAL FOUR AGAIN?: A year ago, NKU won 22 consecutive games en route to the NCAA Division II Final Four. The Norse enter the GLVC Tournament with 16 straight victories, which is nine short of the school record (25 consecutive wins during the 1975-76 season).

If the Norse can equal last season’s 22 consecutive wins, it would once again land them in the NCAA Division II Final Four. NKU would have to win three in the GLVC Tournament, two in the Great Lakes Region and one in the Elite Eight. That would put NKU in the Final Four with 22 consecutive victories.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST IPFW: On Feb. 19 in Regents Hall, NKU limited IPFW to just 15.4 percent shooting from the field in the second half en route to an 80-49 victory over the Mastodons. The Norse held IPFW scoreless for more than nine minutes during one stretch in the second half and rolled to the victory. Michelle Cottrell scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead NKU in that game.

Earlier in the season, NKU defeated IPFW by a 66-54 score at Fort Wayne, Ind. Cottrell scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead NKU.

NKU has not lost to IPFW since the 1996-97 season, when the Mastodons posted an 83-74 win over the Norse in Fort Wayne, Ind. Since that loss, NKU has won seven straight games against IPFW.