Head coach Camryn Whitaker came into the postgame press conference relieved saying she’d never been part of a game like that.
The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team needed three overtime sessions outscoring the old Atlantic Sun foe Lipscomb Bison, 101-95 in the season opener Thursday at Truist Bank Arena. The visitors from Nashville fell to 0-2 on the young season.
NKU had many chances to close out the game before the third overtime but the Norse missed some key shots and free throws. NKU made 33 of 73 shots overall for 45 percent including 5 of 19 from three-point range for 26 percent and just 30 of 53 free throws for 57 percent.
“It just defines who they are,” Whitaker said. “In games like this, I think you just throw (the stat sheet) out the window because it was not pretty. We know that we need to work on our free throws. We know that we need to cut down on our turnovers. But in a three-overtime game, 24 isn’t that bad I don’t think. We’re happy and excited for the win.”
The Norse found ways to attack the rim against Lipscomb’s pack line man-to-man defense. Lindsey Duvall led the way with a double-double of 36 points and 15 rebounds making 17 of 27 free throws. All four stats are career-highs for the graduate student guard.
“Everybody did something to help us win, even in the smallest things,” Duvall said. “It was so easy for us to fold. I was proud of us staying together and making big plays when we needed. Even when we missed free throws, we still found a way when that could have been disheartening.”
Sophomore guard Khamari Mitchell-Steen followed with 23 points, nine rebounds and two steals for the Norse. The nine rebounds to go with seven free throws made out of 12 attempts are also career-highs.
“I was telling our bench to stay positive the whole, entire time even when we had some downs,” Mitchell-Steen said. “They stayed positive with this, which pumped me up even more to try to win the game for my team.”
Sophomore guard Kailee Davis added 16 points and two assists for the Norse with sophomore forward Trinity Thompson adding 11 rebounds, seven points and blocking three shots. The Norse came up huge with graduate student center/forward Emmy Souder and senior guard Ivy Turner fouling out.
On the other side, Lipscomb played 10 players and six fouled out leaving them with just four players on the court in the third overtime. NKU outscored Lipscomb, 6-0 in the final overtime. The Bison finished with 37 fouls to 25 for the Norse.
“I don’t think we have the team that has that mentality (of relaxing),” Whitaker said. “They never think the game is over and they never quit whether we’re up or down, whatever’s happening. You saw that (Thursday). Our coaching staff has to be the leaders making sure they understand the game is not over and we had to maintain our intensity as well. I do feel our players feed off that. Just setting an example from the top is really important.”
Lipscomb gave NKU some issues with its size featuring five players standing six feet and taller. Junior guard Jalyn Holcomb led the way with 28 points and 6-3 redshirt sophomore Aleah Sorrentino followed with 27.
Sophomore guard Claira McGowan, 6-2 sophomore forward Bella Vinson and freshman guard Ainhoa Cea followed with 14, 12 and 10 points respectively. Lipscomb made 35 of 81 shots for 43 percent including 4 of 16 from three-point range for 25 percent and 21 of 36 free throws for 58 percent.
Despite that, NKU won the rebounding battle, 59-46. Souder added eight rebounds to go with six points.
The Norse had the change to close it out in overtime. But with two seconds left, Vinson made a triple to send the game to overtime.
“I go both ways,” Whitaker said when asked about fouling or not in that situation. “I think really it just depends on what’s happening in that particular game. In this game, I felt like with their personnel with what they had left and what we had, I felt like we were in a pretty good position to continue to just try to play solid. We started getting through ball screens and just tried to keep them in front and not let them get anything easy.”
The Norse trailed Lipscomb, 93-84 with 2:38 left in the second overtime. But NKU came back and tied it when Duvall hit a free throw with four seconds left.
The Norse last won a triple-overtime game Dec. 1, 2011 against St. Joseph’s University (Pennsylvania), 106-101 in Rensselaer, Indiana. They last scored 100 points in a 103-25 win Nov. 25, 2017 against Oakland City University (Indiana).
The Norse travel to Kent State on Sunday for a 2 p.m. game.