The Lady Norse have been on the road for what seems like months, when it has only been 2 weeks. During that time, NKU has had close calls with Toledo, Southern Indiana and Bradley and a home win versus Cedarville.
Enter the holiday weekend and a visit from intrastate rival EKU. The Colonels entered the game 4-4 overall.
EKU came out hot from the tip, hitting their first two threes along with forcing a couple of turnovers to race to an 11-5 lead.
Macey Blevins, facing her former team poured in eight in the first quarter on a pair of three pointers and a Mya Meredith running jumper and a Hallie Idowu put back put the Norse up 16-13 with 2:49 remaining in the first quarter. A Kalissa Lacy deep three off a forced turnover on the next play gave the Norse their largest lead at 19-13.
EKU went cold for the last 3 minutes of the quarter and eventually breaking that streak with a put back with time running out in the first quarter. The Norse got a shot off, but it was off the mark, and they ended the quarter with a 26-15 lead.
During that time, NKU shot a blistering 63% from the field and were 3 of 4 from behind the arc led by Blevins’ 10 points.
Both teams traded baskets to begin the second quarter. A missed put back by Kamora Morgan and a deep three by EKU cut the Norse lead to 34-27 heading to the first TV timeout.
A deep three from the corner by local product Liz Freihofer (Cooper HS) pulled EKU to within 40-36 as both teams headed to the locker room.
The Norse were led by Blevins with ten, Halle Idowu and Kamora Morgan each chipped in 6.
NKU shot 51% for the half (14-27) and 33% from behind the arc (3-9). The Norse forced the Colonels into nine turnovers which resulted in a 13-9 advantage in points off. NKU was outscored in the paint 18-16.
Halle Idowu scored the Norse first five points out of the half as NKU built a 45-40 lead and was then followed by a deep three from Blevins to push the Norse lead back to 48-40. Both teams matched baskets over the next few minutes and at the TV timeout the Norse maintained their lead 51-46.
NKU rode on the back of Halle Idowu during their third quarter run. Idowu finished the third quarter with 13 points and the Norse had a 63-57 lead.
The fourth quarter started with a Norse lead, but also saw EKU in severe foul trouble to begin the final frame.
Four Colonels had four fouls each with close to 7 minutes remaining in the game. When asked if they had drawn up any plays to try and take advantage of the Colonel foul trouble, Coach Jeff Hans responded, “We had some plays drawn up, we tried to set some screens and get some certain matchups, but EKU did a good job of fighting through those.”
A running jumper by Caitlyn Costner and added free throw pulled the Colonels even at 65 with 6 and a half minutes left.
A moving pick foul called on Blevins gave the ball back to EKU, but they turned it right back to the Norse. A Meredith put back followed by a long three from EKU’s Freihoffer put the EKU back in front as the pace of the game picked up.
Another Freihoffer three from the corner had all the momentum in favor of the Colonels as they led 73-69 with 3:44 remaining in the game.
After a Norse miss and a forced EKU turnover, Meredith had a wide-open shot from the corner that rimmed out and was rebounded by EKU and a foul called on the Norse. EKU made 1 of 2 to extend the lead back to 74-71 with 3:09 left.
A pair of EKU FT’s pushed lead to 76-71 with 2:17 left, but a Meredith jumper cut the lead back to 76-73.
The Norse then forced what they believed to be a turnover in front of the EKU bench, but the officials went to the monitors after was initially determined to be EKU ball. After review, it was NKU possession trailing by three.
NKU was able to work the ball for an open shot in the lane as they fed into Idowu who made a nice spin move and drive for a basket but was waived off and Idowu was called for the offensive foul.
A pair of EKU free throws pushed the lead back to 78-73 with 37.1 remaining forcing an NKU timeout.
Morgan hit two free throws to cut the Colonel lead to three with 30.2 left in the game but that was as close as the Norse would get dropping another close one 84-75.
With the loss, NKU dropped to 2-6 overall, dropping the last four by a combined 19 points. When asked what the mindset of his team is after the most recent loss, Hans responded, “they’re frustrated, because we have been in this situation a couple of times recently and aren’t able to pull it out. It is a change, and they have to be open to change and I have to be open to them and put them in better situations. They are in a good mindset because they know what is coming with conference play.”
NKU finished the game shooting 45% from the field (26-57) and 23% from behind the arc (4-17). The Norse turned the ball over 21 times, resulting in 30 Colonel points. NKU was also outscored in the paint 46-36.
Halle Idowu scored a game high 21 points to go along with 5 rebounds. Blevins chipped in 14 for NKU along with 13 from Morgan and 11 from Meredith. Meredith pulled down 5 boards as well. Things do not get any easier for NKU as they open conference play with another road test against Horizon League preseason favorite Cleveland State on December 4th.
