With the game all tied up at 20 in the second quarter, the Norse have the ball, trying to swing the momentum back in their favor. Taysha Rushton has the ball on the wing, moving quickly, and she throws a quick pass to Maddie Moody, who has to scoop it up out of the air.
Moody quickly turns around and whips a pass to a cutting Mya Meredith. With no Wright State defenders seeing her, she snakes her way around the defense and flips it up. “Bank” “Swish.”
This gave NKU a two-point lead, 22-20, but after that tie, the game wouldn’t swing back into Write State’s hands as NKU outscores WSU big, 22-14. That second quarter helped them to the 68-62 win over Wright State on Feb. 21.
This win pushed the Norse into fourth place in the Horizon League. NKU’s record is 14-15 overall and 11-7 in Horizon League play. This loss puts Wright State near the bottom of the league, sitting at ninth. WSU’s record is 10-19 overall and 6-12 in League play.
The star for the Norse was Senior Abby Wolterman, who had a double-double. She got to her spots in the paint at will, scoring 19 points, going 8-14 from the field, while grabbing 10 rebounds. Other Senior Rushton had a big game as well, putting up 10 points and three assists.
For the Raiders, it was Breezie Williams who stole the show. In the second half alone, she put up 13 points out of her 17. Williams also added four assists and four rebounds.
The first quarter for both teams started slowly. It took two minutes and 30 seconds for NKU to score, and it took WSU five minutes to score. At the end of the quarter, Wright State and the Norse both shot 25% from the field, with the Raiders having the 9-8 lead.
In the second quarter, the scoring jumped up. WSU came out on a 5-0 run to take the early lead. Both teams traded baskets back and forth until the game was tied up at 20. This is when the game opened up for NKU, going on a 10-3 run, all sparked by Meredith. The Norse went into halftime up 30-23.
In the third quarter, the game stayed in the hands of the Norse, getting the lead as big as 14. Wright State clawed its way back near the end of the third, cutting the lead to just seven, 51-44. Ellie Magestro-Kennedy and Williams got them back into the game with Magestro-Kennedy having five points in the last three minutes and Williams having four.
In the final quarter, Wright State came out on a 4-0 run to cut the lead within three, but the Norse responded right back with a three to get the six-point lead back. Both teams traded points back and forth until WSU cut the game within one with 20 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough.
The free-throw game ensued, and the Norse prevailed, winning 68-62 in the final home game of the regular season.
Wolterman has spent the last two seasons at NKU. She was one of the players that jump started Head Coach Jeff Hans’ career in Highland Heights. She found a home at NKU and has wanted to play for Hans since high school.
“It means everything, especially for me, being close to home, my family has gotten to watch me play here over the last two years, and I’ve met so many amazing people,” Wolterman said. “I also got the opportunity to finally play for Coach Hans because he recruited me in high school. So I’d say I’m very happy ending my career here.”
Rushton, who spent four years at Concordia, a NAIA school in Nebraska, then moved to Texas to play for the Division two school, Texas Permian Basin, for her fifth year. Rushton then came to NKU for her final year of eligibility and has loved the moments here at NKU.
“I mean, I have a very unique experience playing six years. So being here for my last ones, very special. Made great relationships. Been a good experience,” Rushton said.
Hans, Rushton, Wolterman and the whole team are focused on Horizon League play. They are all getting ready for March.
“Just one day at a time, grinding in practice. Coach talked about yesterday, these wins and losses honestly don’t really matter right now. We’re just trying to win in March,” Rushton said.
“We’re working hard right now to obviously get a good seeding, but that doesn’t really matter. We just want to win and showing up in practice every day, working hard to get better,” Wolterman said.