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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Sometime in the near future, perhaps even as soon as the next couple of days, the five outgoing senior women’s basketball players at Northern Kentucky University will look back at all they accomplished and see the impact they made on the Norse program during their collective careers. But the pain of a heartbreaking, last-second 70-69 loss to Ferris State in the first round of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament clouded any pleasant memories for the Norse seniors Friday afternoon. The surreal, did-that-really-happen final seconds of the game played out like this: •Angela Healy took a pass in the low post and powered in a shot to give NKU a 69-68 lead with 9.1 seconds left. •Ferris State’s Sam Johns hurried a shot that missed the mark, but neither team could control the rebound. Surrounded by players from both teams, Ferris State’s Audrey Thwing batted the loose ball just enough to find teammate Teghan Thelen, who was alone on the right side underneath the basket. NKU watched in horror as Thelen laid the ball in as time expired, giving the seventh-seeded Bulldogs the victory. "It was crazy. Sam took it all the way. She was driving full court, and she missed the layup," Thelen said. "Then somehow, Audrey was laying on the floor with the ball and there were three girls around her, and she just threw it up to me and I was standing underneath the basket. "Pretty much, it was like a hot potato because I had no idea how much time was left on the clock.” Just enough to end the season for NKU, which entered the game as the No. 2 seed in the Great Lakes Region. Ferris State, now 22-8 and one of the most talented No. 7 seeds in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history, will meet Gannon (Pa.) - a 66-59 upset winner over defending NCAA Division II national champion Grand Valley State in another first-round game Friday - in Saturday’s tournament semifinals. Kristin Reinhart scored 22 points for the Bulldogs, who defeated NKU for the third consecutive time after dropping the first four meetings with the Norse. Rachel Folcik added 19 points and eight rebounds for Ferris State, which finished with a 42-35 edge on the glass. A year ago in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, NKU used a layup by Karyn Creager in the closing seconds to defeat Michigan Tech, 67-66. This time around, the last-second heroics ended the Norse’s season with a 21-8 record. “Last year we won at the buzzer, and now I kind of know how the Michigan Tech girls felt," said NKU senior forward Katie Butler. "This time, the ball just rolled in at the buzzer, and we didn’t even have a chance to go down and try and throw up a last-second shot like Michigan Tech did. But, I have sympathy for how their seniors went out last year. I never thought I would end my career with a last-second loss.”
Butler scored 15 points to lead NKU, which led by 10 points in the first half. Ferris State rallied, however, and cut the Norse advantage to 37-34 at the break. “Katie played great, particularly in the first half," NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. "She kept us in it, got us the lead, got us up. You can’t ask for more than that. I thought in the end what really hurt us, what was really our demise, was their offensive rebounding. I thought we gave up some second shots. "There were times when they made really great plays, but they made greater plays on the second shot. I don’t know if we got a little tired midway through the second half, but they didn’t beat us with the first shot. They beat us with their second shot, and they just went and got it. It wore on us." NKU jumped out to a 42-34 lead early in the second half when Brittany Winner buried a 3-pointer, but Ferris State responded with a 13-2 run to gain a 47-44 advantage with 15:36 left. The teams battled back and forth the remainder of the game, until Ferris State pulled it out at the buzzer. NKU received 11 points and 10 rebounds from Nicole Chiodi. Cassie Brannen scored 14 points and blocked two shots, and Healy finished with 11 points and six assists. Creager and Karmen Graham wrapped up their basketball careers Friday having already joined the Norse’s 1,000-point club earlier in the season. Graham, an honorable mention All-America selection as a junior who was slowed by injuries the majority of her senior season, scored six points against Ferris State. The Kettering, Ohio, native finished her career with 1,088 points. Creager, the greatest free-throw shooter (87.9 percent) in Norse women’s basketball history, scored four points, grabbed four rebounds and had two assists in her finale. The Leipsic, Ohio, native ended her NKU career with 1,035 points. Four-year letterwinner Betsey Clark completed her career by playing in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. The Cincinnati native helped NKU win 48 games her final two seasons. “Karyn Creager had the assignment to guard the others team’s best perimeter player all year long,” Winstel said. “She had the assignment to guard Reinhart, and I think she did a good job throughout the game, but that kid is a tough player and she did some really good things. “Karmen Graham had some knee problems this year, and it has just been between 60 to 70 percent all season. But she gives you 100 percent of everything that she has every day in practice. A bigger heart you will never find in a player, she is a warrior of a player.
“Betsey is the type of player who does everything for you. She defends; she rebounds; she runs our stuff and understands what is going on. She’s a coach on the floor and just a very solid young lady who comes each day and practices hard. Two seniors who joined NKU after transferring from Division I programs - Butler and Winner - also made their final appearance in Norse uniforms Friday. Butler, a native of Findlay, Ohio, who played two years at Dayton, proved to be an offensive machine with her ability to shoot from the perimeter. Winner, whose versatility, all-out effort and uncanny ability to hit big shots made her one of the top players in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, finished her three-year career with the Norse by scoring eight points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out three assists. A native of Minster, Ohio, Winner played at Elon (N.C.) as a freshman before transferring to NKU. The 5-foot-10 forward, who was named All-GLVC first team and All-Great Lakes Region second team by Daktronics this season, ended her collegiate career with 944 points. “It’s going to be tough to replace these five young ladies. They have been tremendously important to our program, and we love them,” Winstel said. “Win, lose or draw, we are going to feel that way.” Added Butler: “I was pretty miserable at Dayton, so this has just been an incredible two years for me. I have loved every minute of it. At one time, I did think about not playing basketball because I was so unhappy where I was before. "Just by chance, I kind of fell into their hands. It’s been fun ever since. We’ve had our ups and downs, but it’s always been fun. I’m going to miss it. I can’t believe it is over.”
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