Foster’s 24 fuels NKU men’s win
Northern Kentucky University men’s head basketball coach Darrin Horn thought freshman Willie Foster might have a good game.
Foster backed up Horn’s brag: 24 points and 10 rebounds in Monday’s season-opening 84-76 win over Texas-El Paso in the Field of 68 Marathon at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“I just told my wife, ‘I’ve been at this 30 years, it might be the best freshman debut I’ve ever been a part of, sitting on the bench as a coach’,” Horn said.
Foster was 7-of-14 from the field with a 3-pointer and 9-of-10 at the foul line.
“I mean, yeah, he’s a dude,” Horn said. “Whatever ‘it’ is, he’s got it. He’s really about the right stuff.”
Foster was one of three Norse in double figure in points and rebounds. Noah Pagotto had 19 points and 12 boards, and Eric Acker added 16 points.
The Norse were 25-of-50 from the field, made 30 of 33 free throws and out-rebounded the Miners, 39-33.
NKU (1-0) stays in the Mount Rushmore State a couple more days. They meet South Dakota at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Vermillion.
Layton’s 15 points lead NKU women past Defiance in season-opening win
Freshman guard Maya Layton’s 15 points led a quartet of double-figure scorers in Monday’s 84-49 win at Truist Arena.
Newport Central Catholic alumna Caroline Eaglin was next with 14 points (including 3-of-4 3-pointers), Gaia Castelli had 13, and Alma Rashelbach added 10.
NKU out-rebounded Defiance, 58-40 (Sara Basaran led the Norse with eight), forced 17 turnovers and held the Yellow Jackets to 20-of-67 shooting (29.9%).
If there’s a concern, it was NKU’s offense. The Norse were 30-of-77 from the field and 9-of-34 from distance.
“Yeah, it’s one thing we’ve been trying to put a little emphasis on get out of transition, scoring fast, trying to work on some decision-making and not taking quick shots and playing defense the entire time,” NKU head coach Jeff Hans said. “But it’s learning, you know, and we’re growing, just figuring out rotaions.”
NKU takes on Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Lexington.
NKU women’s soccer hosts Horizon League Tournament quarterfinal game
The 4-seed Norse take on 5-seed IU-Indy at 1 p.m. Saturday. The winner would meet 2-seed Green Bay on Nov. 11.
NKU (10-5-3, 6-3-2) appears to have momentum – the Norse wrapped up the regular season with wins over Purdue Fort Wayne, Detroit Mercy and Wright State.
In the other quarterfinal game, 3-seed Youngstown State hosts 6-seed Wright State, with the winner facing top seed Milwaukee in the semifinals.
Semifinal matches will be played on the higher seed’s pitch. The championship is set for Nov. 14.
Also, senior forward Megan Milner earned Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week. She scored her 15th goal in last Saturday’s 3-1 win over Wright State. She is now the single-season goals leader since NKU joined NCAA Division I in 2012.
“We are incredibly proud of Megan and what she has accomplished this season,” NKU head coach Bob Sheehan said. “Breaking NKU’s single-season goals and points records is an extraordinary achievement, particularly in a program with a rich history of talented players and outstanding offensive performances.”
The men’s soccer team (1-12-3, 1-6-2) is 10th in the conference and will finish its season at home Tuesday against Purdue Fort Wayne.
NKU volleyball ends three-game losing streak
After winning 10 straight games, the Norse lost three in a row before Saturday’s 3-0 win over Youngstown State.
Despite losses to Wright State, Robert Morris and IU-Indy, the Norse (14-9, 9-3 in the Horizon League) remained in second place, three games behind Wright State and a game ahead of Green Bay.
“Well, we played great against Wright State, lost in a five setter, thought it was one of the best games we played all year. ” head coach Liz Hart said. “We unfortunately were a little sloppy against Robert Morris … They attacked our right-side block and our right-side defense.
“IU-Indy is a good team; I think that we struggled with their speed.”
Ivey Stocks led NKU with 10 kills against Youngstown State. Abby Pickard had 32 assists, and Daisy Cluxton had 20 digs.
“I think the work that our players have put in has improved, and part of it is, it’s a different set of hitters that we’re defending,” Hart said. “I thought, specifically, I thought Ivey played great, I thought Ivey did a really good job in transition.”
Stocks leads the team with 246 kills, Ava Hoying has 226, and Sydney Bray has 215. Pickard has 954 assists, and Cluxton has 415 digs.
NKU takes its last regular season road trip of the regular season Friday and Saturday at Green Bay.
Thomas More women’s soccer advances to G-MAC semifinals, men fall in quarterfinal
The fourth-seed Saints advanced to the women’s Great Midwest Athletic Conference semifinals after Saturday’s 2-1 overtime quarterfinal win over 5-seed Northwood.
Junior Ivy Hoffman scored in the 19th minute on Josie Gruber’s assist, and junior Olivia Barga won the match with a goal from the top of the penalty box – her second of the season – in the 96th. Reese Wilkens had the assist.
The Saints (12-2-5) travel to top-seed Cedarville for the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The 3-seed Saints men fell to 10-5-4 after Saturday’s 3-2 quarterfinal loss to 6-seed Findlay.
After spotting Findlay a 2-0 lead, Mauricio Medina scored in the 53rd minute (Edward Longhurst and Ramzi Termanini assisted), and Callum Judge scored his only goal of the season in the 56th.
Thomas More cross country
The Saints finish the season at the G-MAC meet Saturday in Tiffin, Ohio.
Thomas More’s women finished 25th of 38 teams at the UAH Chargers Invitational Oct. 24 in Huntsville, Alabama. Freshman Campbell Gerling finished 73rd in the 6K race in 22:21.4.
The men finished 36th of 40 teams. Junior Noah Miller placed 262nd with a time of 26:34.7.
NKU cross country teams compete at HL meet
The women finished in sixth place in the Horizon League meet Saturday at Youthtowne in Clinton, Pennsylvania.
In the 6K women’s race, Grace Biddle finished in 14th place and recorded a personal-best 21 minutes, 46.75 seconds, the sixth-fastest time in program history. Brittany Arnold was 17th with her PB 21:56.36, the seventh-quickest.
Carlie Condit was 48th in 22:45.38, Emily Foley was 53rd in 22:54.57, and Sami Govey was 62nd in 23:03.96.
The men finished 10th in the 8K run. Nathan Ruth finished 42nd with a PB 23:43.79. Brady Messer was 53rd in 26:01.09, Noah Towne was 77th in 26:39.85, Gregory Beard was 97th in 28:04.87, and Brayden Rice ran a 30:16.07.
Saints volleyball
Thomas More (7-17, 3-10 in conference) finishes the regular season Friday at Lake Erie College and Saturday at Ursuline College.
Perhaps November will be a better month; the Saints, third in the G-MAC South, were 2-9 in October with eight straight losses.
Reagan Martin leads the team with 217 kills, and Ceci Kamer has 142.
Megan Rogers has 325 assists, and Paige Stockhoff has 313. Taylor Stivers has 252 digs.
Saints football falls again
Thomas More surrendered 389 total yards and gained just 171 in Saturday’s 49-0 loss to Findlay.
Ben Chesser was 5-of-18 for 82 yards and an interception. Kamalie Pemberton ran for 47 yards and caught a pass for another 47.
Thomas More (2-7, 2-5 in the G-Mac) hosts undefeated Northwood at noon Saturday.
