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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - She did it again, and, given her history for last-second dramatics, no one should be surprised. Not one to shy away from big moments on the basketball court, Brittany Winner conjured up her late-game magic one more time in Regents Hall on Saturday. Northern Kentucky University and Wisconsin-Parkside were tied at 58-all with 4.2 seconds remaining, and the Norse had to go the length of the floor and score if they were to avoid overtime. NKU wanted to up-screen on the final play and break someone free, but Wisconsin-Parkside sagged back. That left the Norse with their second option. Winner received the ball in the backcourt and sped upcourt as the clock wound down. She drove the lane against heavy defensive pressure and put up a runner off the glass just before time expired. The ball spun around the rim for a moment, then dropped through the net to give NKU a 60-58 victory at the buzzer. The Norse winning streak stood at 10 because of a player whose jersey number is 10 on Feb. 10. The numbers - and Winner - were aligned correctly for NKU on Saturday. "We felt that 4.2 seconds was a pretty long time, and we just ran our special press break. We just wanted to attack the basket if we didn’t get anything long," NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. "The ball got into Brittany Winner’s hands, and Brittany did what she does best: take the ball to the rack. What an incredible play by her." While Winner was mobbed by teammates following the shot, the Wisconsin-Parkside players stood on the court in stunned silence. Just two minutes earlier, it appeared the Rangers were on the verge of securing their first-ever season sweep of NKU. Wisconsin-Parkside owned a 58-54 lead with 1:43 left in the game, but Winner converted a drive to the basket to bring NKU within 58-56. After a Wisconsin-Parkside miss with less than 30 seconds to play, Betsey Clark found Karyn Creager behind the Ranger defense with a nice outlet pass. Creager drove in for the layup that tied the game at 58-all.
After a timeout, Wisconsin-Parkside found inside scoring machine Kari Score, who tried to power a shot over NKU's Cassie Brannen. Score's attempt was blocked by Brannen, and a jump ball was called. The possession arrow favored NKU, and the stage was set for Winner. "The play we drew up was to try to get it in long and get it down the court. Cassie was open in the middle, and no one had me right on the inbounds, so I just took it," Winner said. "There were four seconds left, and you don’t have many options to think about. I took one look at the clock and it was down to about two (seconds), and I thought maybe I’ll get there, maybe I won’t. "The worst thing is that we would have gone to overtime, so I took it and it actually went in." Being a former state champion track athlete at Minster High School helped Winner's cause, as her speed allowed her to just beat the clock. Barely. "Actually, I wasn’t sure. I heard the horn go off, and I knew it was close," Winner said. "Then I saw it roll in and I was like 'count it, count it, please.' The (officials) said it was good, so I started jumping around." So did the rest of the NKU bench. The Norse improved to 17-5 overall, 11-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The 10-game winning streak is the longest in the GLVC or Great Lakes Region at the moment. Obviously playing a bit flat after knocking off No. 7 Lewis on Thursday, NKU still held a 24-15 lead with 5:43 left before the half. Wisconsin-Parkside ended the first half with a 11-5 run to trail just 29-26 at the break. Score tallied 15 of her 21 points in the second half as the Rangers forged a 45-41 lead with 8:02 remaining. NKU rallied behind the play of senior guard Betsey Clark, who drained a pair of clutch 3-point shots, the last one giving the Norse a 49-45 lead with 6:21 left. Clark, a graduate of McNicholas High School in Cincinnati, added six rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes. "I was just open, and coach was telling me that they weren’t going to guard me because I’m not really a threat to score," Clark said. "I was wide open and Angela (Healy) made a great pass, so I just shot it and it went in. Luck was on my side at that point."
Clark's outlet pass to Creager for the tying basket late in the game was also a huge play. "I saw her take off running, and I knew that they didn’t have their safety guard back," Clark said. "I was like, 'I’m just going to launch it and let her run it down.' Karyn did a great job in finishing the layup. It was just a great play by her." Winner led NKU with 17 points and added three rebounds. Brannen finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots for NKU, which shot 47.7 percent from the field. Her defense on Score in the closing seconds turned out to be the big play. "Cassie played that perfectly, and it was a big defensive stop with the game on the line," Winstel said. "She is really playing well and giving us great minutes." Creager finished with 11 points and two assists, and Nicole Chiodi added seven points and three assists. In addition to her 21 points, Score grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for Wisconsin-Parkside (14-9, 7-8 GLVC). Ashley Ferguson added 13 points for the Rangers, who defeated NKU earlier this season at Kenosha, Wis. NKU finished 8-for-12 from 3-point range, led by Winner's 3-for-3 performance behind the arc. Chiodi and Clark also connected on a pair of treys. "They were sagging big time and when we got the ball, they were really giving Nicole and Betsey the 3's, especially Betsey," Winstel said. "I told Betsey, 'they don’t respect you.' She’s a senior and a veteran. She understands what is going on. She’s not a starter, but she’s always mentally prepared. She works her butt off everyday in practice and when you do that, good things are going to happen to you. "Today, Betsey Clark showed the reason why you’re always prepared and ready to go. I’m happy for my team but I’m really happy for her." The Norse conclude their home schedule next week with games against Bellarmine (Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.) and Kentucky Wesleyan (Thursday at 5:30 p.m.). On Tuesday, NKU will face a Bellarmine team which hung an 85-78 loss on the Norse in December. Prior to the game against Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday, NKU will recognize its five senior players - Winner, Creager, Clark, Katie Butler and Karmen Graham - and their families. The Norse will close out the regular season with road games against Saint Joseph's (Feb. 22) and Indianapolis (Feb. 24). NKU begins defense of its GLVC Tournament March 2 at Evansville, Ind. Times and first-round pairings for the GLVC Tournament will be announced in the evening Feb. 24.
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