Sunday, March 12, 2000
NKU women win region
Tuchfarber scores 22 points
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — The Northern Kentucky women's basketball team didn't get any last-second heroics Saturday from junior guard Michele Tuchfarber or sophomore forward Michelle Cottrell against Northern Michigan.
The second-ranked Norse didn't need any.
Tuchfarber scored 22 and Cottrell added 17 to give the NKU the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region title with a 77-70 victory at Regents Hall.
NKU plays the Northeast Region winner in the Elite Eight March 22 at Pine Bluff, Ark. St. Rose, N.Y. (33-0) plays Bentley (27-3) today for that regional title.
“Last year we had all the seniors,” Cottrell said. “This year we wanted to prove to everyone we could get back to Pine Bluff.”
Added Tuchfarber: “We didn't care what people said about us. We knew we could make it back.”
As Cottrell and Tuchfarber entered the game with 7:21 left, they slapped hands as if they decided to take over the game themselves.
Then they did.
Tuchfarber provided the offense. Her 3-pointer from the top of the key with 5:37 left tied the game at 61-61, and her four points over the next 2:24 led an 8-0 run that resulted in a 69-61 lead.
Northern Michigan coach Mike Geary said Tuchfarber's three was the key play of the game.
“It got the crowd back in the game and put us on our heels,” he said.
Cottrell had the defense.
Northern Michigan displayed the more potent offense to open the game.
The Wildcats ran to a 10-2 lead behind senior forward Sasha Leverentz's four points, and junior center Jill Gobert and senior guard Shari Rehmann each nailed a 3-pointer. It was all part of 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point territory after five minutes.
NKU, meanwhile, was 3-of-7 over the same span, and sophomore guard Michelle Cottrell — who scored 29 in Friday's semifinal win over Michigan Tech — didn't score her first points Saturday until a layup with 15:06 left in the half.
Northern Michigan was even hotter the next five minutes: four Wildcats scored two points each, resulting in a 26-15 lead with 9:38 remaining.
NKU was 6-of-12 from the field, but the Norse also had five turnovers in 10 minutes.
The halftime shooting statistics turned out roughly equal - NKU was 13-of-25 for 52 percent from the field to Northern Michigan's 15-of-26 for 55.7 percent.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN (25-6): Dykstra 2-6 5-6 9, Leverentz 9-18 2-2 21, Gobert 4-8 4-4 13, Rehmann 2-4 0-0 6, Weber 1-1 1-2 3, DellAngelo 3-6, 2-3 9, Dalton 2-4 0-0 4, Keranen 2-3 1-2 5. Totals: 25-50 15-19 70.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY (29-2): Cottrell 6-10 5-6 17, Cowens 4-5 0-0 8, Jenson 2-6 0-0 5, Livingstone 3-7 4-4 10, Tuchfarber 5-10 10-10 22, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Mobley 3-5 7-9 13, Flanagan 0-1 0-0 0, Polosky 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 24-46 26-29 77.
Halftime: Northern Michigan led, 36-31. 3-point goals: NM 5-of-15 (DellAngelo 1-3, Rehmann 2-4, Gobert 1-2, Leverentz 1-6); NKU 3-of-10 (Flanagan 0-1, Mobley 0-1, Tuchfarber 2-3, Livingstone 0-2, Jenson 1-3). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: NM 27 (Keranen 7, Gobert 7); NKU 25 (Cottrell 9). Assists: NM 14 (Dykstra 4); NKU 8 (Tuchfarber 3). Turnovers: NM 18 (Gobert 6); NKU 14 (Jenson 4). Total fouls: NM 21; NKU 18.
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