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EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Maybe they were angered by the mere thought of possibly not qualifying for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. Perhaps they didn't like falling out of the NCAA Division II national rankings after consecutive losses at Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis. Or maybe it's just the case of a defending league champion displaying a big target on its jersey, taking the best shot of each opponent and now preparing to gel as the postseason draws nearer. Whatever the reason, members of the Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team sent out a forceful message to the rest of the GLVC this weekend with an impressive road sweep of Kentucky Wesleyan and Southern Indiana. The Norse's latest victory, a 70-56 drubbing of Southern Indiana in the PAC Arena on Saturday, came against a team in dire need of a win on its home floor. The Eagles began the afternoon having lost three straight games after starting 5-0 in the GLVC. Though Southern Indiana might have played with an increased sense of urgency, the Screaming Eagles were no match for NKU's intensity and aggressiveness. "Everything starts around defense for us. You build your intensity offensively from it, as well as your intensity for rebounding the ball," NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. "We struggled with that concept early on this season, but we are really buying into it right now and doing a great job. "We were so aggressive in the first half, I thought the worst thing that happened was we had to stop for halftime. Sometimes you leave your aggressiveness in the locker room. I told our players with this crowd and in this place, if they make a run, we could be in trouble. We did not let up, and this was a great road trip to beat a couple of very good teams." Brittany Winner scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds as NKU won its fourth straight game and improved to 11-5 overall, 5-4 in the GLVC. The 5-foot-10 senior from Minster, Ohio, also collected five steals and was 9-for-11 from the free-throw line as the Norse finished 32-for-44 from the line. "I thought B-Dub did a tremendous job for us, especially during the first half," Winstel said of Winner. Sophomore post player Cassie Brannen added 14 points and five rebounds for the Norse, who won the battle on the glass by a whopping 43-29 margin. Senior guard Karyn Creager scored 13 points and dished out four assists, while junior center Angela Healy finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. "Cassie Brannen played great defense and helped everyone," Winstel said. "Cassie was a presence inside. Karyn isn't as dynamic or flashy as B-Dub, but she defended No. 40 (Katie Thiesenhusen) and made big plays all day for us on offense and defense." Sabrina Brandon came off the bench and scored 16 points to lead Southern Indiana, which is 11-6 overall, 5-4 in the GLVC. NKU wasted little time Saturday, jumping out to a 22-9 lead. When Katie Butler drained a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left before halftime, the Norse owned a 34-16 lead. Southern Indiana hit three free throws in the final seconds to close the gap to 34-19 at the break. Winner made a pair of free throws with 16:07 remaining to give NKU a 45-23 lead, and the Norse coasted to the victory. Only 23 turnovers prevented NKU from completely running away from Southern Indiana, which made just 32.8 percent of its shots from the field. "We're back in the hunt, and this feels a lot better than when we were 1-4 in the conference," Winstel said. "Our defense is coming around, and we have a lot of people stepping up and making big plays." NKU returns home for two games next week, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. contest Thursday against Indianapolis. The Norse also play host to Saint Joseph's at 5:30 p.m. next Saturday. |
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