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Wild Finish: Last second tipin disallowed, NKU women drop Horizon League thriller to Detroit


A pair of intense sequences in the final seconds ended in the Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team dropping a heartbreaker to Detroit on Saturday afternoon, 66-65.

Courtney Roush picked up a big rebound and went coast-to-coast to put the Norse up, 65-63, with 17.2 seconds to go. Detroit immediately responded with a trey from Nicole Urbanick to retake the lead, 66-65.

Detroit had a foul to give and took it, giving NKU 3.5 seconds for a winner. The Norse found Roush again, who drew contact on her attempt which missed the mark.

After review, the Norse had another attempt with 0.2 seconds remaining, and on the inbound, Rebecca Lyttle appeared to tip home the game winner. However, the officials ruled the play a catch-and-shoot and thus the basket could not count, giving Detroit the victory.

Rianna Gayheart led a balanced Norse offense with 11 points and five assists (NKU Athletics Photo)

Rianna Gayheart led a balanced Norse offense with 11 points and five assists (NKU Athletics Photo)

Rianna Gayheart led a balanced Norse offense with 11 points and five assists. Christine Roush and Kasey Uetrecht each had nine points, with Uetrecht adding a team-high eight rebounds. All told, 10 different Norse got in the scorebook as NKU shot 37.1 percent (23-for-62) from the field and 40 percent (10-for-25) from long range.

Detroit got the action started quickly, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the opening two minutes of the contest. The Norse battled back, getting six points from Roush to help NKU close the gap and finish the opening stanza with just a three-point deficit, 18-15.

Gayheart and Davis came alive for the Norse in the second quarter, accounting for NKU’s first 10 points of the frame as NKU came back to tie the game at 26-26 on a Davis trey with 4:20 to go until halftime. NKU finished the half on an 8-1 run, punctuated by a triple from Kelley Wiegman, to take a 38-31 lead to the locker room.

The Norse extended their lead to as much as 13 points in the second half, but Detroit pulled back into the game, outscoring the Norse 10-5 in the final five minutes of the third quarter before using a 9-0 run in the fourth to tie the game up at 57-57.

Rosanna Reynolds led Detroit with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Urbanick added 14 points. The loss drops NKU to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in Horizon League play, while Detroit improved to 8-9 overall and 4-2 in the Horizon League.

The Norse return home to BB&T Arena on Thursday when they host defending Horizon League champion Green Bay. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. with the action carried live on ESPN3.

NORSE NOTES

— With her nine points, Christine Roush passed Melody Doss for 20th on NKU’s career scoring list. Roush now has 1,159 points in her four years in the Black and Gold.

— Rianna Gayheart now stands 15th on the all-time assist list at NKU with 297 over her four years.

— Kasey Uetrecht has led the Norse in rebounding in each of the last four games, averaging 9.5 boards over the stretch and raising her season average to 6.0 boards per game.

Norse men battle back, still fall to Cleveland StateFrom NKU Athletics


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