Karmen Graham

KENOSHA, Wis. - Just when folks were beginning to compare this season’s Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team to the 2000 NCAA Division II national championship squad, along comes Wisconsin-Parkside and a stunning upset loss on the road.

Wisconsin-Parkside pulled off the shocker Thursday with a 70-62 win over No. 20 NKU at the DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers, who entered the game hoping to avoid a 20-loss season, improved to 7-19 overall, 4-14 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

In the process, Wisconsin-Parkside ended NKU’s winning streak at 16 games and knocked off the Norse for the second straight year at the DeSimone Gymnasium. NKU entered the game ranked 20th nationally and No. 3 in the latest NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region poll.

Carrie Schieve scored 27 points to lead Wisconsin-Parkside
to the upset. She was 8-for-16 from the field, dished out two assists and had two steals in 40 minutes of action.

Schieve also used 9-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line to key the win. The Rangers employed a 2-3 zone defense against NKU for much of the game, but the Norse were just 2-for-12 from 3-point range.

“We could not make an outside shot, and they were daring us to shoot from the outside,” NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. “You make a zone look really good if you can’t buy an outside shot, and there was not a lot inside because they dared us to shoot from the perimeter. We had some open shots, but they would not fall.”

NKU (22-4 overall, 15-3 GLVC) committed 19 turnovers and allowed Wisconsin-Parkside to shoot 52.2 percent from the field in the second half. It marked the Norse’s first loss since Dec. 20, when Hillsdale (Mich.) posted a 58-52 win at NKU.

“The turnovers just killed us,” Winstel said.

Karmen Graham scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead NKU. Brittany Winner added 13 points for the Norse, who shot 51.1 percent from the field.

“(Graham) played a great game, and she did all she could,” Winstel said, “but they really packed it in on our inside players because we could not hit from the outside.”

Nicole Chiodi scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds, while teammate Cassie Brannen came off the bench and added 11 points.

Despite the loss, NKU earned the East Division’s No. 1 seed in the upcoming GLVC Tournament when Lewis lost at home to Bellarmine on Thursday. The Norse will begin play at the GLVC Tournament March 2 against either Missouri-St. Louis, Saint Joseph’s or Southern Indiana.

NKU will close out the regular season Saturday at Lewis in Romeoville, Ill.

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