Karmen Graham battles for a rebound

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - It’s taken some time, but Northern Kentucky University is beginning to again resemble the women’s basketball program that for years has stood among the nation’s elite.

The latest evidence NKU is back on track materialized Thursday during a 54-47 win over Lewis in Regents Hall. The Norse rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the final half and won for the second straight time after starting the season 0-5.

“Tonight was a big win for us. It was our first home win, and we’ve lost two at home, and to beat a team as good as Lewis in a must-win situation in the conference was good for us,” NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. “The way we played in the first half was frustrating, but I thought we battled well in the second half. I think everybody contributed.”

NKU improved to 2-5 overall, 2-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Lewis is 4-4, 3-2 in the GLVC.

Karmen Graham scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the second half to lead NKU. She also provided the biggest play of the night with less than three minutes remaining and the game tied at 43-43.

After taking a feed from Nikki Perkins inside, Graham powered her way for a basket while being fouled to give NKU a 45-43 advantage with 2:41 left in the game. The sophomore post player finished off the conventional three-point play by sinking the free throw to extend the Norse’s lead to 46-43.

“I think it was a really big win for us because we hadn’t won at home yet this year,” Graham said.

Perkins hit a short jumper with 1:10 remaining to give NKU a 48-43 lead. Tenesha McDaniel responded with a basket to bring Lewis within 48-45, but Connie Myers hit two free throws with 34 seconds left to push the Norse advantage to 50-45.

Angela Healy

Graham added two free throws with 21 seconds remaining to give NKU a 52-45 lead, and Perkins sealed the win with a layup.

For the game, Graham converted 11 of her 12 attempts from the line. She also grabbed seven rebounds against the physical Lewis frontcourt.

“The game was (seven) points, and we shot a ton of free throws, so the game could have easily been closer if we hadn’t made those free throws,” Graham said. “The free throws were vital.”

NKU jumped out to an 18-11 lead with 7:22 left in the first half when Sarah Woods converted a basket on a baseline drive. Lewis, however, countered with a 12-2 run to take a 23-20 advantage on a pair of free throws by Mary Moskal with 1:09 remaining before halftime.

Nicole Chiodi’s basket just before the first-half buzzer sliced the Lewis lead to 23-22 at the break. The Flyers, however, used a 7-0 run at the start of the second half to build a 30-22 lead on a Darcee Schmidt layup.

NKU responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 30-30 on two free throws by Angela Healy, who scored four points to key the spurt. Healy also finished with eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

“Healy just keeps getting better and better, and she going to get better offensively,” Winstel said. “She has a great court presence. She doesn’t get riled; if she is you can’t tell. She tries to do what you ask her to do. She understands what’s going on. She doesn’t hurt you, she helps you.”

NKU shot 40.9 percent from the field, but the Norse converted 47.8 percent of their attempts in the second half. Lewis shot 38.9 percent from the field and committed eight of its 16 turnovers in the second half.

Nikki Perkins

Moskal led Lewis with 15 points, while Schmidt - the GLVC Player of the Week - added nine points and seven rebounds. The Flyers were limited to just 2-for-15 shooting from three-point range, including 1-for-10 in the second half.

Myers scored seven points for NKU, which leads the all-time series with Lewis by a 35-4 count. Perkins added six points and five assists for the Norse.

The Norse will play host to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Winstel is now 497-197 in her 25-year collegiate coaching career that includes three seasons at Midway (Ky.). She needs just three wins to reach the 500-victory plateau.

Her 497 career victories rank sixth among NCAA Division II head coaches.

In 22 years at NKU, Winstel owns a 458-156 record. She is also the all-time leader in career wins for Norse basketball.