HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team will hit the road this week for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference games at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (6:30 p.m. Thursday) and the University of Southern Indiana (2 p.m. Saturday).
The broadcasts of both games can be heard live on WTSJ (1050 AM).
NKU is 10-3 overall after defeating Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 69-48, on Saturday. The Norse are 6-2 and in third place in the GLVC standings.
Amy Mobley scored 26 points, grabbed six rebounds and added five assists Saturday to lead NKU past SIUE. Bridget Flanagan added 16 points - including her 1,000th career point - as NKU held SIUE to just 38 percent shooting from the field and won the rebounding battle by a 42-24 margin.
NKU built a 35-27 halftime lead as Mobley scored 14 points and Kristin Polosky added eight points. Flanagan hit four three-point shots Saturday, and she became the 20th member of the NKU 1,000-point club when she connected on a three-pointer early in the second half.
Flanagan, a graduate of Mercy High School in Cincinnati, now has 1,007 career points with the Norse. Earlier this season, Mobley also joined the 1,000-point club during a 96-64 win over Wayne (Mich.) State University.
NKU remained unbeaten at home this season (7-0), and the Norse are 33-2 in Regents Hall during the past three years.
STREAK AGAINST SIUE: NKU now owns eight consecutive wins against SIUE and leads the all-time series, 14-6. SIUE’s last win against NKU came on Dec. 5, 1998, when the Cougars pulled out a 62-61 victory at Edwardsville, Ill.
POLOSKY MOVES UP GLVC RANKINGS: NKU senior forward Kristin Polosky ranks No. 8 in the GLVC in assists with 4.69 apg. Polosky also averages 1.46 blocked shots per game, which ranks No. 2 in the GLVC. She is scoring 9.2 points per game.
MOBLEY NO. 5 IN REBOUNDING: NKU senior forward Amy Mobley ranks No. 5 in the GLVC in rebounding at 7.8 rpg. She averages 14.4 ppg and has 11 blocked shots this season.
FLANAGAN FROM LONG RANGE: NKU senior guard Bridget Flanagan ranks No. 2 in the GLVC in three-pointers made per game at 2.62.
MYERS’ DOUBLE-FIGURE STREAK ENDS: NKU sophomore post player Connie Myers had her streak of games scoring in double figures snapped at nine on Saturday when she was held to six points. Myers averages a team-leading 15.0 ppg, and she is shooting 58.5 percent from the field.
ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: The Riverwomen are 7-6 overall after suffering a 75-72 loss at Kentucky Wesleyan College on Saturday. Missouri-St. Louis is in 10th place in the GLVC with a 2-6 record.
Senior forward Christy Lane leads the Riverwomen in scoring at 13.4 ppg. Lane has made 26 of 79 three-point attempts this season. Sophomore guard Ebonie Halliburton is scoring 12.2 ppg and leads the team with 62 assists.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS: Earlier this season on Dec. 2 in Regents Hall, Elizabeth Burrows scored a career-high 15 points and added four assists as NKU defeated Missouri-St. Louis, 73-43.
Burrows scored 11 points and made a trio of three-point shots in the first half as NKU built a 44-21 lead. The Norse shot 53.1 percent from the field in the first half and made 8 of 17 three-point attempts.
Bridget Flanagan added 11 of her 13 points in the first half. The Norse held a 51-28 rebounding advantage and limited Missouri-St. Louis to just 29.1 percent shooting from the field.
NKU jumped out to a 25-7 lead midway through the first half when Burrows connected on a three-point shot. The Norse led by as many as 36 points in the second half and coasted to the victory. Connie Myers and Amy Mobley each added 13 points for NKU.
A YEAR AGO IN THE MARK TWAIN BUILDING: Last year on Jan. 26, Amy Mobley’s three-point play with three seconds remaining in the game gave NKU an 81-79 win over Missouri-St. Louis at the Mark Twain Building.
Missouri-St. Louis held a 79-78 lead in the closing seconds, but Mobley made a layup while being fouled. She converted the free throw to give the Norse an 81-79 advantage with three seconds left, and Missouri-St. Louis was unable to get off a last-second shot.
Bridget Flanagan scored 21 points for NKU, which rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to post the victory. Christy Lane scored 17 points in the first half as Missouri-St. Louis built a 52-36 lead. NKU, however, held Missouri-St. Louis to just 24 percent shooting from the field in the second half and rallied for the win.
ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA: The Lady Eagles, who play host to Bellarmine University on Thursday before facing NKU, are 5-9 overall. Southern Indiana is 3-4 in the GLVC.
Southern Indiana is led by senior forward Africa Sherrod, who averages 15.0 ppg and 1-1 rebounds per contest. Sherrod has 11 double-doubles this season.
THE LAST TIME AGAINST SOUTHERN INDIANA: On March 9, 2002, Michelle Cottrell scored 23 of her 31 points in the second half as NKU captured the NCAA II Great Lakes Region championship with a 69-66 win over Southern Indiana at Evansville, Ind.
Cottrell made 12 of 19 shots from the field as NKU earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at Rochester, Minn. NKU’s defense held top-seeded Southern Indiana to just 38.5 percent shooting from the field. The Norse also controlled the tempo and led by as many as 11 points in the first half.
NKU led the entire second half, but Southern Indiana eventually pulled to within one point (61-60) with 1:41 remaining on a short jumper by Casey Hughes. Suzie Smith, however, connected on a three-point shot with 1:09 remaining to give the Norse a 64-60 advantage, and Amy Mobley extended the lead to 66-60 when she made a jumper with 40 seconds left.
Cottrell, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Great Lakes Regional, made a pair of free throws with 32 seconds to give NKU a 68-61 lead. Southern Indiana’s Africa Sherrod hit a three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining to slice the deficit to 68-64.
After an NKU turnover, Jessica Stuckman hit a short jumper to bring Southern Indiana to within 68-66 with 14 seconds remaining. Cottrell was then fouled and made the second of two free throws to give NKU a 69-66 lead.
Southern Indiana had a final chance to send the game into overtime, but Erin Wall’s off-balance three-point attempt fell short. NKU shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half to hold off the Eagles, and the Norse beat the Southern Indiana full-court press with several breakaway layups off passes from Mobley.
Elizabeth Burrows