The Northern Kentucky University Women’s Basketball team opened the Bank of Kentucky Center with a 90-73 loss to the University of Louisville Nov. 8.
For the Norse the opportunity to play a Top 10 women’s team from Division I was tremendous.
“For Louisville to come here and play us, it was a pleasure,” NKU head coach Nancy Winstel.
Winstel liked the chance to play the Cardinals.
“When you play an exhibition game, if you play somebody and beat them by 40, you don’t find that much about yourself out there,” she said.
NKU senior guards Jessie Slack and Karen Brackman had 15 points each in the game to lead their team.
The Cardinals had four players in double figures with senior forward Candyce Bingham leading the way with 17 points and six rebounds.
NKU senior center Cassie Brannen found how tough it is to matchup with one of the top teams in Division I.
“They (Louisville) were definitely athletic,” she said. “We are not use to playing against that much athleticism. Other than that, we stood with them for most of the game. And we didn’t even play our best game.”
Slack added her comments on the Cardinals.
“They (Louisville) are so long and tall,” Slack said. “Passes we might usually make against teams similar size to us, might be there. Things look open, but Louisville closed the gap a lot quicker than other teams we play.”
With the exhibition game being the grand opening of basketball in the BOKC, it also was a welcome home for Louisville head coach Jeff Walz. Walz is an NKU Alumni and also played for the Norse Men’s Basketball team from 1992-1995.
The homecoming for Walz meant just as much to him as the exhibition itself. Seeing the changes to campus were “amazing” in Walz’s eyes
“I stopped at Regents Hall to see the volleyball game and spoke over at the new Student Union, which is just fantastic,” he said. “They (NKU) have done a first-class job with this place (BOKC) and are going to have a lot of success here.”
The Norse will have the next couple of weeks off to prepare for the regular-season. NKU will face Wayne State at 6 p.m. Nov. 20 at the BOKC.