The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team (10-7, 4-4) did not want to leave Michigan without a Horizon League victory.
On Sunday, the Norse broke their two-game losing streak with a convincing 75-51 victory over the Detroit Mercy Titans (3-14, 1-7). The Norse are in a three-way tie with Milwaukee and Oakland for fifth place in the Horizon League.
Northern Kentucky outscored Detroit, 18-8 in the second quarter to go up 35-21 at halftime. The Norse then pulled away in the fourth quarter winning it 21-6.
The Norse won the rebounding battle, 44-34. They outscored the Titans in the paint, 40-28 playing without senior guard Ivy Turner and sophomore forward Trinity Thompson, who were injured in the loss at Oakland on Friday.
Sophomore guard Khamari Mitchell-Steen concluded a big weekend with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Mitchell-Steen scored in double figures in consecutive games for the first time this year.
Graduate student guard Lindsey Duvall made 8-of-14 shots from the field on her way to 25 points to go with nine rebounds and one blocked shot. This is Duvall’s sixth game scoring 20 or more points.
Sophomore guard Kailee Davis added 15 points, four assists and six rebounds. This marked her 11th double-digit scoring game this year.
“It was nice to see the younger kids step up,” said Camryn Whitaker, NKU head coach. “I thought Khamari had a good weekend. She was able to get to the rim and score. I was really glad to see Lindsey get a couple threes to go through just for confidence. She’d been struggling from behind the line. Just to come out with a win is what we’re most excited about. We have to build on every game. We talk consistently about trying to find our rhythm, shoot when we’re open even if we’re not hitting them. When we do hit that stride, it’s going to be really good.”
Northern Kentucky plays host to Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne (6-12) on Friday at 11 a.m.
