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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Will they earn an encore performance in Regents Hall for the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament? Or will they spend the first round of that event in Rolla, Mo., going up against Missouri S&T? The women of Northern Kentucky University get a chance to answer those questions this week when the Norse conclude their regular-season schedule with two road games. NKU plays at Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday night, and the Norse conclude the trip with a Saturday afternoon game at Lewis. NKU enters this week with an 18-7 overall record, and the Norse are tied with both Indianapolis and Bellarmine atop the GLVC East Division with 11-6 records. If NKU wins both games, the Norse will claim the East Division title and play host to a first-round GLVC Tournament game March 4. OTHER POSSIBILITIES: If NKU splits the road trip, it could earn a first-round home game as the No. 2 seed from the East Division, but the probable scenario would be a No. 3 seed and a first-round contest at Missouri S&T. If the Norse are swept on the trip, they will still qualify for the GLVC Tournament and likely play at Missouri S&T, though an outside chance would exist of playing at Indianapolis in the first round as a wild-card qualifier. The league office will officially announce pairings, sites and times for the first round of the GLVC Tournament Saturday night. If NKU hosts a women’s/men’s doubleheader March 4, the times will be 5:30 and 7:45 p.m. The women will play first, followed by the men. STOP THE STREAK: NKU enters Thursday on a two-game losing streak after dropping a 74-66 decision at Kentucky Wesleyan last week. Two days earlier, the Norse suffered a 73-60 loss at Bellarmine. ROAD WOES: NKU has lost four consecutive road games going into Thursday night’s contest at Wisconsin-Parkside. The Norse have dropped consecutive away games to Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri S&T, Bellarmine and Kentucky Wesleyan. NKU’s last road victory came against Saint Joseph’s on Jan. 12. BAD OMEN: NKU has not won a road game at Wisconsin-Parkside since Dec. 6, 2003, when the Norse posted a 77-66 victory over the Rangers. NKU has dropped three consecutive games in DeSimone Gymnasium, including a 66-57 decision last season. HEALY CLIMBS CHARTS: NKU senior center Angela Healy enters this week with 1,128 career points, which ranks 17th in Norse history. She also has moved into second place on the NKU all-time blocked shots list with 136, trailing current teammate Cassie Brannen (146 blocks). Healy averages 15.0 points per game and leads the GLVC in rebounding at 9.8 rpg. She is also shooting 51.3 percent from the field and has 13 double-doubles this season. Healy has scored in double figures 21 times this season. BRANNEN NEARS 800: NKU junior post players Cassie Brannen enters Thursday with 790 career points. Brannen averages 12.9 ppg and is shooting a GLVC-leading 56.3 percent from the field. She also tops the GLVC in blocked shots with 1.96 bpg. CHIODI PASSES 700: NKU senior point guard Nicole Chiodi has now scored 704 career points. She has also dished out 313 career assists and recorded 111 steals. Chiodi averages 9.2 ppg this season and leads NKU with 85 assists. ABOUT WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE: The Rangers are 16-9, 10-7 in the GLVC. Wisconsin-Parkside stunned Indianapolis last Saturday by rallying from a 21-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining in the game to post a 62-57 win over the Greyhounds. Kayla Ming leads Wisconsin-Parkside by averaging 18.4 ppg. She is also 73-for-184 from 3-point range this season. Amanda Gibson is scoring 11.9 ppg and is No. 2 in the GLVC in assists at 5.04 apg. THE LAST TIME AGAINST WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE: Earlier this season on Feb. 2 in Regents Hall, Angela Healy scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as NKU cruised past Wisconsin-Parkside, 73-55. Jessie Slack added 18 points for the Norse. 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. THE LAST TIME AGAINST LEWIS: Earlier this season on Jan. 31 in Regents Hall, Cassie Brannen scored 20 points, while Angela Healy recorded a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds as NKU beat Lewis, 73-42. NKU closed the game on a 21-1 run over the final 7:42. Danyelle Echoles started that run with back-to-back 3-pointers at the 13:05 and 12:05 marks. NKU, in fact, outscored the Flyers 33-7 over the final 13:16 of the game.
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