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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team plays host to Wayne (Mich.) State at 1 p.m. Saturday in Regents Hall in a key regional game. NKU opened the season Tuesday night with a 98-42 win over Midway (Ky.). The Norse hit their first six shots from the floor, including four 3-pointers, to open up a 20-4 lead. Karyn Creager started the onslaught by knocking down a pair of 3-pointer to open the game, and Katie Butler capped the Norse run by draining a trey from downtown. NKU connected on 11 of its first 12 shots from the floor and cruised to the easy victory. Creager scored a game-high 18 points, and Butler added 14 points, blocked four shots and grabbed five rebounds off the bench. ANOTHER MILESTONE: Nancy Winstel became the first basketball coach in NKU history to reach the 500-win plateau Tuesday night. Now in her 24th season as NKU's head coach, Winstel is 500-168 on the Norse sideline and 539-209 overall. BALANCED ATTACK: All 11 NKU players who saw action scored. Sophomore guard Danyelle Echoles netted a career-high 11 points and dished out five assists for the Norse, who finished with 26 assists as a team. Sophomore guard Karen Brackman added eight points, six rebounds and three assists for NKU, while sophomore post player Cassie Brannen blocked three shots, grabbed seven rebounds and scored seven points. NKU collected nine blocks and finished with a 42-26 advantage in rebounding. The Norse made 87.5 percent of their free throws for the game and forced Midway into 22 turnovers. ABOUT WAYNE STATE: The Warriors are 1-2 after rallying for a 63-55 win over Central State on Tuesday night at Detroit, Mich. Chastidy Miller scored a game-high 25 points in the win over Central State and leads Wayne State in scoring at 15.0 ppg. Wayne State finished with a 58-33 rebounding edge against Central State, including a whopping 23 offensive rebounds. THE LAST TIME AGAINST WAYNE STATE: On Nov. 26, 2005, NKU cruised to a 76-48 win over Wayne State at Detroit, Mich. The Warriors made just 27.5 percent of their shots from the field against the NKU defense, which recorded eight blocks. Karmen Graham scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Norse. Graham also added three assists for NKU, which used 37-for-46 shooting from the free-throw line to coast to the victory. Graham converted 11 free throws in 14 attempts. Karyn Creager made three 3-point shots and scored 14 points for the Norse. Creager drained a pair of 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game as NKU jumped out to a 12-4 lead. Katie Butler came off the bench and scored six of NKU’s next eight points as the Norse extended the lead to 20-6. Butler finished with 13 points for NKU, which placed all 11 players in the scoring column. |
