Karmen Graham

INDIANAPOLIS - Karmen Graham scored 16 points, including a key basket in the final minute of the game, as the Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team posted a 58-56 win over Indianapolis on Saturday in Nicoson Hall.

Graham, a 6-foot-1 junior post player, also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as NKU improved to 5-2 overall, 2-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Brittany Winner added 14 points and four assists for the Norse, who limited Indianapolis to 9-for-24 shooting (37.5 percent) from the field in the second half.

Graham’s basket with 34 seconds remaining gave NKU a 56-52 lead, but Vanessa Jackson countered by making a jumper with 24 seconds left to bring Indianapolis within 56-54.

Indianapolis fouled Karyn Creager with 21 seconds remaining, and the NKU junior guard made one of two free throws to extend the Norse advantage to 57-54. Mandy Geryak’s layup with nine seconds remaining cut the NKU lead to 57-56, and Indianapolis fouled Betsey Clark with 6.4 seconds left on the clock.

Clark missed the first free throw, but she converted the second attempt to give NKU a 58-56 lead. Indianapolis had an opportunity to send the game into overtime, but Geryak’s jumper missed at the buzzer.

Creager finished with 10 points and two steals for NKU, which bounced back from a three-point loss at Saint Joseph’s on Thursday. The Norse rallied from a 47-45 deficit with 6:22 remaining behind a pair of baskets from Winner, whose layup at the 5:37 mark gave NKU a 49-47 advantage.

Indianapolis eventually tied the game at 52-all on a steal and basket by Deanna Thomson, but Angela Healy’s jumper off an assist from Nicole Chiodi with 1:22 remaining gave NKU the lead for good.

Geryak led Indianapolis (5-2, 1-2 GLVC) with 12 points, and Amanda Norris added 11 points. Eileen Patton came off the bench and finished with seven points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots for the Greyhounds.

NKU will play host to the Sunday Challenger Classic Dec. 19-20 in Regents Hall. The Norse meet West Virginia Wesleyan at 7:30 p.m. in the opening round.

BOX SCORE