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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - During the past 10 days, Nancy Winstel has recorded her 500th career coaching victory at Northern Kentucky University, guided her Norse to an important regional win over Wayne (Mich.) State and watched her team vault into the nation’s top 10 in the Division II poll. But Winstel’s favorite early-season moment probably occurred Thursday night, courtesy of a come-from-behind 65-63 win over Quincy in Regents Hall. The 10th-ranked Norse improved to 3-0 overall and captured their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener over a talented Quincy team. “We could have very easily lost tonight. It seemed like the only time we were up was at the end of the game, but I’ll take it,” Winstel said after her team rallied in the closing minutes. “I thought we made some plays when we had to, and I thought we hung in there. "In the first 10 minutes of the game I thought we were very flat. Like I said, it wasn’t pretty, but you’ve got to give Quincy all the credit in the world.” Quincy held a 59-53 lead with two minutes left, but a conventional three-point play by Katie Butler and a basket by Brittany Winner cut the Lady Hawks’ advantage to 59-58 with 1:26 remaining. Janette Burgin made a pair of free throws with 1:06 left to extend the Quincy lead to 61-58, but Butler drained a 3-point field goal to tie the game at 61-all with 58 seconds remaining. Butler said she had no problem taking the big shot. “Coach always makes fun of me because I have no hesitation, especially for a post player,” said Butler, who finished with 12 points. “Right before we came back out to the floor, Karmen (Graham) told me ‘If you’re open, you’ve got to shoot it.’ So when she set a screen, I came off it. I knew right when I put it up that it was going in. It felt perfect.” Burgin, however, made a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left to give Quincy a 63-61 lead, but Graham countered by taking a pass from Butler and powering in for a basket while being fouled. Graham converted the ensuing free throw to give NKU a 64-63 lead. “It was a big basket by Karmen, and a great pass from Katie to set it up,” Winstel said. After a missed shot by Burgin with 10 seconds remaining, Nicole Chiodi grabbed the rebound and was fouled. She converted one free throw to give the Norse a 65-63 lead. Quincy had a final chance to tie or win, but Shaquita Crawford committed a turnover with 0.5 seconds left and NKU escaped with the victory. Chiodi’s defense late in the game was a key. Her steal with 1:28 left set up Winner’s layup.
“Nicole played so well. She stepped up for us when coach got on her about her defense,” Butler said. “She just knows what’s going on out there on the floor, and she’s a great point guard. She always knows what’s going on and where to go with her passes. She just has like a sixth sense and knows where people are on the floor.” NKU shot 56.5 percent from the field in the second half to pull out the victory. Quincy (2-2, 0-1 GLVC) made just 33.3 percent of its shots the entire game, but the Lady Hawks pulled down 21 offensive rebounds. Winner scored 12 points and blocked three shots for NKU, while Graham and Karyn Creager each added nine points. The Norse collected 10 blocked shots as a team. Cassie Brannen had eight points and four blocks for NKU, and Chiodi finished with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Winstel said Butler’s performance was certainly the key to the comeback. “I’ll tell you, Katie has a lot of confidence, and when she gets the ball and has that gleam in her eye, she can step up big,” Winstel said. “That was a huge shot she made with us trailing by three, and she is not afraid to take the big shot. Katie is doing a lot of things well for us right now, and it’s great to see” Angela Healy added eight points as NKU defeated its one-time nemesis for the fourth straight time. The Norse defeated Quincy twice last season and in their final meeting during the 2004-05 campaign. Before that Norse victory two years ago, Quincy - featuring All-America forward and GLVC Player of the Year Jessica Stuckman - had beaten NKU four straight times. “Our team is a bunch of fighters. We’re scrappy,” Butler said. “We told each other that we’re not losing this game. Not once did we think we were out of this game. We kept saying that if they were in front of us, we were going to come back and that we were fine.” NKU will play host to unbeaten Southern Illinois at Edwardsville - a 10-point winner at Bellarmine on Thursday - at 1 p.m. Saturday. “In the Great Lakes Valley Conference, we found a way to win on a night where we didn’t play very well. I’m going to take it and I’m going to try not to complain too much about it,” Winstel said. “Quincy is well-coached and really does a great job of running the offense. They get after you on defense, and that (Burgin) is a terrific player.” |
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