Angela Healy averages 7.3 rebounds

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team begins Great Lakes Valley Conference play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with a home game against Rockhurst (Mo.).

The NKU/Rockhurst game will be televised live on ICN-6.

NKU, off to a 3-0 start, will also play host to NCAA Division II powerhouse Drury (Mo.) at 1 p.m. Saturday. Drury is ranked No. 2 nationally in the Division II poll.

Rockhurst and Drury are both competing in the GLVC for the first time this season. NKU has never played either school in women’s basketball.

Both games this week will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.nku.edu/~athletics.

NORSE RUN PAST WAYNE STATE: Karmen Graham scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds Saturday as NKU remained unbeaten with a 76-48 win at Wayne (Mich.) State.

Graham added three assists for NKU, which used 37-for-46 shooting from the free-throw line to coast to the victory. Graham converted 11 free throws in 14 attempts. Two years ago in the same gym, Graham scored a career-high 28 points to lead NKU to a 69-62 win over Wayne State.

CREAGER ON TARGET: Karyn Creager made three 3-point shots and scored 14 points for the Norse in the win at Wayne State. Creager drained a pair of 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game as NKU jumped out to a 12-4 lead.

Creager averages a team-leading 12.7 points per game and has made 90 percent of her free throws. She is also shooting 50 percent (7-for-14) from 3-point range.

THE 500 CLUB: Graham notched her 500th career point Saturday and now has 501 points at NKU. Creager enters Thursday’s game with 490 career points with the Norse.

INSTANT OFFENSE: Junior forward/center Katie Butler came off the bench at Wayne State and finished with 13 points for NKU. Butler, a transfer from Dayton, averages 9.0 ppg and 3.3 rebounds per contest.

BOARD GAME: NKU sophomore center Angela Healy grabbed a game-high nine rebounds at Wayne State. Healy averages a team-leading 7.3 boards per game for the Norse.

NO LAST-SECOND HEROICS NEEDED: NKU is winning its games by an average of 28.3 points per contest. The Norse’s smallest margin of victory during the first three games was 26 points (an 81-55 win over Northwood).

ABOUT ROCKHURST: The Hawks are 2-2 overall after dropping a 76-56 decision at Pittsburg (Kan.) State last Tuesday. Rockhurst was picked to finish seventh in the GLVC West by the coaches in the preseason poll.

Rockhurst features senior guard Jessica Rethman, who averages 14.5 ppg. Junior center Courtney Farmer averages 12.3 ppg and 9.0 rebounds, while senior forward Alisha Cade is scoring 9.3 ppg and grabbing a team-leading 10.3 boards per contest.

DRURY UP NEXT: NKU will meet No. 2 Drury on Saturday, and many consider the Lady Panthers one of the favorites to win the 2005-06 NCAA Division II national championship. During the past two seasons, Drury has the nation’s best overall record at 65-4, and the Lady Panthers posted a 29-2 mark last year.

Drury senior All-America forward Amanda Newton is the preseason pick as National Player of the Year by Division II Bulletin.