---Cassie Brannen (right) battles Jennifer Martin in the lane during NKU’s 67-44 win on Saturday. Brannen blocked a team-leading five shots and scored 10 points. Martin also blocked five shots for Missouri-St. Louis, but the NKU defense forced the standout center into a 4-for-11 shooting performance.

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky University hosted a block party Saturday afternoon in Regents Hall and gave Missouri-St Louis plenty of reasons to feel rejected.

In fact, 10 rejections, to be exact.

NKU finished with 10 blocked shots, held Missouri-St. Louis to 29.8 percent shooting from the field and rolled to a 67-44 win over the visiting Riverwomen. The Norse did not allow the visitors to make a shot from 3-point range (0-for-6) and improved to 9-5 overall, 3-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Sophomore post player Cassie Brannen did most of the swatting for NKU and finished with five blocks. Brannen's defensive efforts, which contributed to Missouri-St. Louis standout Jennifer Martin's 4-for-11 shooting performance from the field, helped the Norse go 2-0 this week in two crucial home games.

Martin, a 6-foot-1 center, finished with five blocked shots herself, but it was not enough to keep the Riverwomen afloat Saturday.

Brannen and Katie Butler combined for 21 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead NKU. Butler finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for the Norse. Brannen added 10 points and seven rebounds to her five blocks.

The 10 blocks were two shy of the NKU record of 12, set on March 1, 2003, at Lewis. Defense, as it has for years under head coach Nancy Winstel, keyed the win against Missouri-St. Louis.

"Our defense is getting better, and our confidence is getting better as well," Winstel said. "I think that Cassie Brannen’s play the last couple of games was solid. Angela Healy, who has been carrying us all year and who had struggled in the last couple of games, was better today as well.

"We played good, solid defense. We try to run our stuff on offense. We move the ball. We’re aggressive. We’re inside-outside, and we try to take care of the ball. That’s NKU. That’s the way I’ve coached forever, and that’s the way we’re going to play. They can even bury me saying that."

Nicole Chiodi scored 12 points and dished out five assists for NKU, which led the entire game. The Newport Central Catholic graduate also had two steals in 36 minutes on the court.

"I felt Nicole played today like she had been playing earlier in the season," Winstel said. "She just looked like she had that little extra hop in her step. She’s aggressive, and her play today was really nice to see."

Missouri-St. Louis began the game by attempting to press and trap NKU. Chiodi and her teammates had little trouble attacking the pressure, but they were surprised to see it.

"I like it when they throw it at me. I was kind of surprised when they came out in it," Chiodi said of the Missouri-St. Louis pressure. "We like it because we can attack it."

---Katie Butler challenges Missouri-St. Louis defender Jennifer Dewell in the second half. Butler scored 11 points in the NKU victory.

NKU led by as many as 14 points in the first half before settling for a 30-19 advantage at the break. Brannen netted eight points during the first half, and Brittany Winner scored seven before the break. NKU did commit 12 first-half turnovers or the game might have been over by intermission.

"I think in the first half we were trying a little too hard," Winner said of the first-half turnovers. "In the second half, we were moving the ball and executing. Once you move the ball, things start opening up for everybody."

Healy scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds for NKU, which shot 47.8 percent from the field and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line. Karmen Graham added six points and three rebounds as the Norse upped their lead to 15-2 in the all-time series with Missouri-St. Louis.

The victories against Missouri-St. Louis and Missouri-Rolla (72-51 on Thursday) this week also proved NKU is not ready to concede anything as far as the GLVC is concerned.

"We love playing at home, and they were both good teams," Winner said. "We knew that they weren’t going to give it to us, so for us to come in here and to have two good, solid wins in which everyone executed, ran our stuff and made passes to where they needed to be made, was big."

"Now I think that we’re ready to go back on the road and show people that we’re not done," Winner added for anyone who might have doubted that NKU would regroup after losing four straight GLVC games, "but we’re back and ready to go."

NKU will visit Owensboro, Ky., on Thursday for a GLVC clash with Kentucky Wesleyan, which romped past Southern Illinois at Edwardsville by a 95-78 score on Saturday. The Panthers (12-3 overall, 5-2 GLVC) have become legitimate GLVC contenders this season and feature a roster loaded with talent and experience.

Two days later, NKU will face Southern Indiana at Evansville, Ind. The Eagles are also vastly improved this season and always difficult to beat in the PAC Arena. It is possibly the toughest road trip of the season facing NKU, and the Norse are 0-3 against GLVC teams as the visitor this winter.

"When you go on the road, you have to have an attitude about you, and I’m not sure we have that," Winstel said, "but I have it."

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