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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - If a college basketball team scores 39 points and shoots 26 percent from the field on the road, chances are a loss is on the horizon. Do that against a nationally ranked team, and it is a certainty. Rockhurst did both Thursday night against No. 15 Northern Kentucky University, and the result was a 61-39 victory for the Norse. NKU clamped down defensively on the Lady Hawks, won the rebounding battle by a 41-31 count and pulled away for the victory in Regents Hall. NKU improved to 9-2 overall, 2-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Norse are now 3-0 all-time against Rockhurst, which dropped to 4-6 overall, 0-3 in the GLVC. "To hold a team to less than 40 points is pretty good. I think we’re getting better in spots. It was a good win for us after losing to Grand Valley State last week," NKU head coach Nancy Winstel said. "A win is a win, and we’ll take it, but we have to get better if we want to compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. "I just feel that we have spurts when we look really good, and then we have spurts when we don’t look good. Basketball is a team game; there are five people out there and five people executing. There are times for us when all five people don’t look to be on the same page. There are times when we call an offense and somebody is out of position or somebody is not where they need to be. We’re still kind of learning as we go." Nicole Chiodi led NKU with 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field. The senior point guard also grabbed seven rebounds and collected two steals. Chiodi netted 10 points in the first half as the Norse built a 30-21 lead. Junior guard Danyelle Echoles buried a pair of 3-pointers in the second half that helped NKU turn the game into a blowout. Echoles hit her first trey with 7:14 remaining to make it 49-35, and she drained another 3-pointer at the 5:56 mark to extend the Norse advantage to 54-35.
"I’m glad I made them. I’ve been off for the last couple games, so I just decided today that I was going to come out and try to shoot with confidence," said Echoles, a graduate of Colerain High School. "The first one kind of bounced around a little bit but went in, so that gave me the confidence to make the next one. Their defense makes it tough to get the ball into our post, so our guards have to make perimeter shots to pull them out." NKU shot 43.1 percent from the field and was 4-for-10 from 3-point range. The Norse, who had struggled from long range their previous two games, connected on all four treys in the second half. "It was nice to see Danyelle step up and hit those shots, and they were big," Winstel said. "Rockhurst was playing a switching-type of man-to-man defense. I think what happens for us is that you have to take what the defense is going to give you." Cassie Brannen finished with 12 points and four steals, while Angela Healy added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. NKU blocked nine shots, with Rachel Lantry's three rejections leading the way. Karen Brackman scored seven points and dished out a game-high five assists. Amy Hake led Rockhurst with nine points. The Lady Hawks committed 28 turnovers and were 4-for-13 from 3-point range. NKU faces a showdown on Saturday with No. 3 Drury at 1 p.m. Drury suffered an 86-78 loss at Bellarmine on Thursday and is 9-2 overall, 1-2 in the GLVC. A year ago, NKU and Drury split a pair of meetings. The all-time series is tied at 2-2 between the perennial NCAA Division II powerhouses.
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