Nicole Chiodi drives past Quincy

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Nancy Winstel’s philosophy of playing great defense, minimizing turnovers and making free throws has helped her record more than 500 career coaching victories and an NCAA Division II national championship.

It worked again Saturday in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, as Winstel watched her Northern Kentucky University squad end Quincy’s two-year reign as league champion with a convincing 67-49 victory over the Lady Hawks in Roberts Stadium. NKU improved to 25-4 and will meet Drury (28-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday for the GLVC Tournament title.

NKU held Quincy (20-9) to just 26.2 percent shooting from the field and turned the ball over only 11 times against the Lady Hawks’ pressure defense. The Norse gradually wore down Quincy with their deep bench and sealed the win by shooting 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.

“Quincy played extremely hard, but we wanted to keep people fresh and we have a longer bench,” Winstel said. “We were aggressive and did a great job defensively on (Deana) McCormick. Angela Healy and Cassie Brannen were outstanding defending her in the post, and she hurt us the first time we played them this season.”

McCormick, Quincy’s leading scorer at 13.7 points per game entering Saturday, was held to just two points before fouling out. In the first meeting this season, McCormick finished with 20 points and was 7-for-9 from the field in that game.

“We focused on (McCormick) because she had a big game the first time, and our post defense was a lot better in this game,” said Brannen, who scored 10 points off the bench.

NKU allowed just one basket the first seven minutes of the game, but the Norse owned just a 4-3 lead at the 13:10 mark. NKU held a 27-23 advantage at halftime, but Quincy was in the game despite shooting 22.9 percent from the field.

Brittany Winner scored nine points

“I was screaming and yelling during the first half, so in the locker room I didn’t do too much of that,” Winstel said. “I told them that Quincy was playing very hard, and so were we. We just needed to keep playing good defense, stay aggressive and we would be OK.”

Karmen Graham started off the second half with consecutive baskets to extend the Norse lead to 31-23. She later took a feed from Brittany Winner to give NKU its first double-digit advantage at 37-27 with 14:57 remaining.

A conventional three-point play by Winner gave NKU a 51-37 lead with 8:23 left, and Brannen powered in for a basket seconds later to make it 53-37. The Norse controlled the remainder of the contest and coasted into the GLVC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2002.

NKU set a GLVC Tournament record with 10 blocked shots, as Healy, Brannen and Karen Brackman all finished with two rejections. Graham led the Norse with 18 points and nine rebounds. Winner and Healy each finished with nine points, while Betsey Clark dished out five assists.

NKU, which has led the GLVC in blocked shots all season, missed tying the school record of 12 that was set in 2003 against Lewis.

“The blocks are coming from our help-side defense, and it’s a tribute to our size and length inside,” Winstel said. “We did a good job of protecting the ball on offense, and we’re growing up as a team. They have grown up a great deal since we started practice on Oct. 15.”

NKU, ranked No. 22 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll, will now face No. 3 Drury for the GLVC title Earlier this season, Drury posted a 56-45 win over the Norse in Highland Heights, Ky.

Drury finished unbeaten (19-0) in the GLVC during the regular season and has won twice during the GLVC Tournament.

NKU won GLVC Tournament championships in 1999 and 2000. The winner of Sunday’s game will receive the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

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