Nicole Chiodi could start at point guard

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The last time a Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team had no seniors, it went on to win the school’s first national championship on March 25, 2000.

“(This year’s) team isn’t quite as experienced as that group, but it’s always fun to dream,” NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. “The big goal is to work as hard as we can, try our best to have a great season, get into the NCAA Tournament, which will be very tough, then see what can happen.”

NKU must find replacements for two key positions if the Norse hope to make it back to the NCAA Division II Tournament after a year’s absence and improve upon last season’s 16-12 overall record. NKU also posted a 13-7 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

The Norse must replace Elizabeth Burrows, NKU’s starting point guard the past three seasons who started 94 games in her four years. Burrows also led the team with 118 assists last season.

“We have three, maybe four people who will compete for this position: Nicole Chiodi, Betsey Clark, Keri Finnell and possibly Karen Brackman,” Winstel said.

Clark, a junior guard from McNicholas High School in Cincinnati, saw action in 21 games last season and started three times. She collected 19 assists and six steals. Chiodi, a 6-foot sophomore guard from Newport Central Catholic High School, finished last season with 18 assists and five steals in 24 games.

Finnell, a 2003 graduate of Purcell Marian High School, sat out as a redshirt during the 2004-05 season but is an outstanding scorer and ballhandler. As a senior, she averaged 22.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. Finnell also finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,584 career points.

Brackman averaged 12.3 points per game as a senior at Minster High School. She helped lead Minster to the Division IV state championship as a junior.

Karmen Graham (34) is an inside force

The Norse will also have to replace forward Connie Myers, last season’s leading scorer (16.5 ppg) and rebounder (8.6 rpg) who also earned first team All-GLVC honors. But Winstel believes one of the strengths of this year’s team is its size. The Norse have five players on the roster listed at 6-foot-1.

The top returning player for NKU is 6-foot-1 junior Karmen Graham, who averaged 11.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during the 2004-05 season. As the second-leading scorer and rebounder last season, Graham earned honorable mention All-GLVC accolades.

Angela Healy, a 6-1 sophomore from Highlands High School, saw action in all 28 games and started six times. She averaged 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last season, and she finished the season as one of the team’s best shot blockers with 29.

The Norse also add two Division I transfers, Katie Butler and Angela Estes. Butler, a 6-1 junior transfer from Dayton, averaged 4.8 points per game last season and was 11-for-38 from three-point range.

During her career at Dayton, Butler was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week in December of 2003. She also scored 15 points in a win over Wright State, and she had 14 points and seven rebounds against George Washington.

A 2003 graduate of Liberty-Benton High School, Butler was named Northwest Ohio Player of the Year as a senior after averaging 25.3 ppg and 10.3 rpg.

Estes, also a 6-1 post player, had 13 steals and seven blocks last season in 25 games for East Tennessee State.

Karyn Creager averaged 9.7 ppg

Karyn Creager, a 5-11 junior guard, averaged 9.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last season. She also dished out 37 assists and had 18 steals. Creager made a team-leading 88.5 percent from the free-throw line (77 of 87), and she connected on 36.8 percent of her three-point attempts.

In addition, Creager set an NKU single-season record by making 27 consecutive free throws.

Brittany Winner played in all 28 games last season and started 13 times. The junior forward from Minster High School averaged 6.8 points per game and ranked No. 2 on the team in steals with 29. She also added 38 assists.

NKU adds freshmen Cassie Brannen, a 6-1 center, and Danyelle Echoles, a 5-6 guard from Colerain. Brannen helped lead Mount Notre Dame to the Ohio Division I state championship as a junior and a state runner-up finish as a senior.

“We are a very young team, but we do have some experience,” Winstel said. “We feel like we had a good recruiting year and that everyone is working very hard in preseason conditioning.”

The youth of the team will be tested with the addition of three new schools in the GLVC and an NCAA Division I opponent on the schedule this season.

Drury, the 2004 national runner-up, visits NKU on Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. Drury, in its first year as a member of the GLVC, finished with a 29-2 record last season. The Norse will travel to Quincy, the defending conference champion, on Feb. 2 in their only meeting of the season.

The Norse will also host Loyola (Ill.) at 5:30 p.m. in Regents Hall on Dec. 22. Loyola is a member of the NCAA Division I Horizon League and posted a 7-21 record last season.

NKU begins the season Nov. 16 against Wilberforce (Ohio) in Regents Hall at 7 p.m.

“We are very excited about the season. We should have a lot of competition at all spots on the team,” Winstel said. “It remains to be seen how it will all play out, but our talent is good, our chemistry is very good and our desire to excel seems to be very good.”

CLICK HERE FOR ROSTER

CLICK HERE FOR SCHEDULE