It was a battle of freshmen phenoms in Saturday’s game against Purdue Fort Wayne (PFW), but for Northern Kentucky, this matchup did not end with the heroics of their last matchup.
Despite a career-high 35 points from freshman standout Karina Bystry, the Norse fell 97-91 in overtime to PFW on Saturday afternoon at Truist Arena.
The loss drops NKU (10-13, 7-5 Horizon League) down to fifth in the Horizon League standings, allowing the Mastodons (13-8, 7-4) to leapfrog past them.
The game began as a real nightmare for the Norse. PFW stormed out of the gates, silencing the home crowd with an 11-0 run in the opening four minutes. While Bystry tried to keep the offense afloat with 15 first-half points, the rest of the team struggled to find a rhythm against the Mastodons’ pressure. Freshman forward Maddie Moody was held scoreless in the first half, and NKU went into the locker room trailing 41-31.
However, the Norse clawed their way back in the second half, eventually erasing the deficit and taking a 79-76 lead behind a late 7-0 run.
The final 24 seconds of regulation descended into chaos. After PFW tied the game at 81, the clock wound down with a frantic sequence of turnovers and missed opportunities. The Norse had possession with a chance to win in the final seconds, but could not get a clean look, and the PFW defense held without fouling.
Heading into overtime, the Norse were forced to play the extra period shorthanded after Abby Wolterman fouled out in the fourth quarter, Maddie Moody followed suit and fouled out in overtime. Without two of their top rebounders and interior defenders, the Norse struggled to contain PFW’s attacks.
While Bystry struck first in overtime with a layup, PFW responded immediately with back-to-back three-pointers from Rylee Bess and Alana Nelson to seize control. The Mastodons never trailed again.
With 41 seconds left in OT, with the Norse down by six, PFW inbounded and looked to run as much clock as they could. The Norse chose not to foul, and didn’t get the ball back in their hands until it was too late.
“We had a bunch of them out there with four fouls, and we were down eight at that time with 15 seconds left. There’s not a whole lot of possessions left, especially with one timeout to bring it up to advance it,” Hans said regarding the decision not to foul in the final minute of overtime. “Play it out. If we get a stop and don’t foul, then we’d have a chance to maybe cut it to a one-possession game and play the last 12 seconds that way.”
The contest featured a great scoring duel between two of the Horizon League’s top rookies. PFW’s Rylee Bess finished with 27 points.
But it was Bystry who stole the individual spotlight. The freshman guard was relentless, finishing 11-of-21 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. She also punished the Mastodons at the charity stripe, shooting a near-perfect 9-of-10.
“Our spacing was very good, and I felt like everyone was getting their shot down. Kamora’s hitting her shots, Mya hit her shots, Taysha hit her shots, so I was able to drive freely,” Bystry said of her career night. “I just felt it today. I wanted to win.”
Despite the loss, the Norse showed grit, erasing a double-digit deficit, but the foul trouble and the slow start proved too much to overcome.
NKU will look to bounce back at home against Cleveland State on Saturday, January 31.