----Brittany Winner drives against UK

LEXINGTON, Ky. - For most of Wednesday evening, Northern Kentucky University was right in the game with NCAA Division I powerhouse University of Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum.

Samantha Mahoney, however, helped No. 16 UK pull out a hard-fought 77-60 win over the Norse. Mahoney scored a career-high 28 points as the Wildcats knocked off NKU - ranked No. 15 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll - in an exhibition game.

Mahoney was one of three players in double figures for the Wildcats, who shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the floor and limited NKU to just 43.8 percent (21-of-48) shooting from the field.

“Sam played well tonight,” UK head coach Mickie DeMoss said. “I was pleased with her offensively. She came up with some steals on the defensive end. I think she is playing with a lot of confidence right now and she played like an all-star. I thought she really stepped up and took lead of the team and shot the ball extremely well.”

Jenny Pfeiffer added 13 points, and Carly Ormerod added 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field. Senior forward Jennifer Humphrey led the rebounding effort with seven boards.

Kentucky, which held a 48-45 lead with 16:06 remaining in the game, went on a 10-4 run over the next five minutes to go ahead 58-49 on a resounding 3-pointer by Pfeiffer. From there, the Wildcats continued to roll.

Leading 62-54, UK went on a 9-0 run to go ahead 71-54 with 3:55 remaining in the game on a basket by Pfeiffer. Mahoney had four points during that stretch.

After getting off to a slow start, Kentucky took a 41-33 lead into the locker room at halftime after closing the opening period on an 8-2 run. UK shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the floor in the opening period and was led by Mahoney’s 17 points.

----Angela Healy takes the ball to the basket

“Northern Kentucky obviously prepared for us and I know our players depend a lot on scouting reports and we just gave them a few things because we didn’t get any tape on them,” DeMoss said.

“It was good that we saw it and I am glad we won the game, but I was more disappointed in our defense and our rebounding.”

The Wildcats and Norse battled evenly to begin the game before Kentucky took a 17-15 advantage after back-to-back 3-pointers by Ormerod and Mahoney. Mahoney’s trey sparked a 5-0 Kentucky run that put the Cats ahead 19-15 on a jumper by Pfeiffer just inside the arc at the 11:27 mark.

The Norse didn’t give up however, rallying to go back in front 22-21.

Karyn Creager led NKU with 11 points, and Katie Butler added 10 points off the bench. Brittany Winner added eight points, six rebounds and four assists, while teammate Keri Finnell netted seven points off the bench.

NKU won the rebounding battle against the taller Wildcats by a 30-28 margin. The Wildcats hold a 10-4 edge over the Norse in the all-time series, but this marked the first exhibition game between the two schools in women's basketball.

NKU will travel to Bloomington, Ind., on Nov. 6 to meet Indiana in Assembly Hall in its final exhibition game. The Norse will begin their regular season at home on Nov. 21 against Midway (Ky.).

NKU is the favorite in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division. The Norse return 11 players from last year’s 27-5 squad, including all five starters.

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