Gallery • 7 Photos

Colin Johnson

Taylor Clos (4) goes up for a three point shot during the game against during the game Detroit Mercy. Clos had 19 points on the game and shot 5-of-9 from three.

The Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team got back on track Friday morning with a 68-56 Horizon League victory over Detroit Mercy. Now moving the Norse to 4-14 overall and 3-5 in Horizon League play. Detroit Mercy falls to 3-16 on the season and 1-7 in conference play.

Freshman guard Taylor Clos lead NKU with 19 points, having the touch from downtown as well, nailing 5 of her 9 three-point attempts. She felt as if she gained some confidence after this outing.

“It’s a confidence booster,” Clos said. “I feel like at the beginning of the year I was struggling with confidence on the offensive end and just kind of second-guessing myself, but I think I’ve figured it out more and I definitely have more confidence and I know that they’re confident in me.”

The Norse had four players score in double figures, while the Titans only had 2 achieve that feat. For the Norse

edshirt junior Molly Glick had 14 points and three rebounds followed by junior forward Jazmyne Geist with 13 points and 9 rebounds. And freshman point guard Ally Niece with 12 points, making 6 of 6 from the foul line rounded out the four in double digits.

The first quarter started off great for the Norse, with a three point percentage of 50. The Norse held the Titans to 36 percent from the field and from behind the arc. The Black and Gold led the entire game, with their biggest lead swelling up to 17 just before halftime. The halftime score ended at 36-22, NKU.

“They never cut it below eight,” Head Coach Camryn Whitaker said. “And for us to be able to sustain and keep the lead and play with the lead, I think that’s where a lot of young teams struggle with the most is being able to play with leads. I was proud of our team for that.”

Despite the Norse shooting at 37 percent in the second half they were still able to pull off the win. Clos suffered what looked like a knee injury in the fourth quarter.

“I’ll practice tomorrow,” Clos said. “I could have went back in the game if they needed me, they finished strong. If it came down to it I could have went back in, but I was confident they could have got it done.”

What also helped the Norse advance was their rebounding for the day, out rebounding the Titans 52-22.

“Rebounding is something that we take a lot of pride in,” Whitaker said. “We talk about that all the time, rebounding is just effort. I told the girls after the game that we dominated the boards, and we had 23 offensive rebounds. I’m proud of the team for our effort.”

The Norse will now face Oakland in the second of a four-game homestand on Sunday, Jan 27, at 2 p.m.. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.