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By Tom Ramstetter, NKU Sports Information HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Angela Healy matched her career high with 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday as the Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team cruised past Wisconsin-Parkside, 73-55, in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game in Regents Hall. Healy, a senior center from Highlands High School, now has 12 double-doubles this season. “I just try to do anything my team needs me to do,” Healy said. “If it helps us win, I do it.” NKU head coach Nancy Winstel agreed. “I think we need to get her the ball more,” Winstel said. “Angela is just a warrior. She’s such a great player and attracts so much attention. She is such a great leader. I have nothing but the utmost respect for her in the way that she carries herself and this team on and off the court. Angela is such a leader for us and if you ask anyone on this team, they’d say that as well.” Jessie Slack added 18 points for the Norse, who improved to 15-5 overall, 8-4 in the GLVC. Slack also made all 10 of her free-throw attempts and dished out three assists as NKU upped its lead in the all-time series with Wisconsin-Parkside to 22-5. Rachel Lantry’s eight first-half points helped NKU build a 37-21 lead at the break. Lantry hit a pull-up jumper at the 9:15 mark of the first half to give the Norse the advantage for good after eight lead changes and three ties in the first 10:45. After two Healy free throws, Lantry hit a 3-pointer and followed with an assist to Kendra Caldwell for a layup that capped a 9-0 Norse run. “I thought that Lantry and Slack did a great job for us,” Winstel said. “Angela Healy and Cassie Brannen, how can you ever not mention their name when you’re talking about our team? We’re a ‘team’ team and people need to step up at different times. Rachel has been having kind of a rough year, but we need her to do what she did today, and get that energy from her. She is really capable of doing that and it was really nice to see her do that.” Lantry, a sophomore out of Holy Cross High School, added another trey to end the half. She also dished out three assists in the opening 20 minutes. “It’s definitely difficult coming off the bench when you have five other players that are already warmed up and have already set the tempo for the game,” Lantry said. “I think that when we have players like Angela Healy and the rest of the starting five and get that lead going, it makes it easier for our bench people to come out with a lot of energy and not bring the tempo down.” Lantry finished with those eight points and three assists, while Nicole Chiodi added eight points. Danyelle Echoles led the Norse with four assists.
The Norse held the Rangers (12-7 overall, 6-5 GLVC) to an ice-cold 23.9 percent from the field, including 15.8 percent (3-for-19) in the first half. NKU made 45.8 percent of its shots from the field and converted 82.8 percent (24-for-29) of its free throws. Wisconsin-Parkside made only 11 field goals in the game, but used 26-for-34 shooting from the free-throw line to stay within 20 points. “Parkside is a very, very good team, and they always play well here,” Winstel said. “We got off to an OK start, but I thought we weren’t getting some things done. I thought Rachel Lantry picked us up huge. I also thought that Kendra came in and gave us some valuable minutes. That is what those girls need to do and that is what they’re capable of doing. Then I thought that Jessie Slack might have played her best game of the year. “Jessie’s composure on the court, her savvy, and her defense - I just thought she did a great job. Nicole struggled a little bit in the first half but from the latter part of the half, she was Nicole. And then Angela and Cassie did a great job. We’ve got to do a little better job of when we’re missing them; we’ve got to get them the ball.” Healy and Cassie Brannen each blocked three shots for the Norse. Brannen now has 130 blocked shots for her career, just two shy of the NKU record of 132 held by Janet Brungs. Brannen was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and made a 3-pointer to finish with seven points. Healy was 2-for-3 from 3-point range, not what one might expect from the Norse’s inside power. “I think one was when the shot clock was running down, so I just kind of shot it,” Healy said. “Sometimes when people play us, they sag in, so if you can hit the outside shot, it’s going to open up things inside.” The Norse outrebounded the Rangers 37-31, led by Healy’s 11. Chiodi grabbed five boards and Brannen and Slack each had four rebounds. The Rangers only had six assists as a team while the Norse dished out 15, led by Danyelle Echoles’ four. Kayla Ming, one of the top 3-point shooters in the nation, led the Rangers with 24 points. “I thought Danyelle Echoles did a great job on (Ming) because she is the real deal,” Winstel said. “I thought Danyelle did as great of a job on her as she could. I think our defense had a lot to do with our win. They are just a really good team, and we have a lot of respect for them. We have to go up there and play them again, so I’m sure that will be a tough one.” NKU plays host to Bellarmine in the 2008 Homecoming next Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
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