HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KENTUCKY — Lauren Dickerson put up 20 points in her second collegiate game to help the Miami women’s basketball team top Northern Kentucky, 60-50, on Tuesday night.
The RedHawks improve to 2-0 on the season, with both of their victories coming on the road.
“This was a good learning game for us,” head coach Cleve Wright said. “We were making corrections during the game and the players did a great job executing those and we played hard. We didn’t shoot well from three, but we got defensive stops to get rolling and that’s what we want to base everything on.”
Neither offense was particularly effective in the first quarter as the teams combined to shot just 25 percent (7-of-28) from the field. A Laura Thomas three-pointer gave the Norse (0-2) a 6-5 lead midway through the frame, but the RedHawks finished the frame on a 6-0 run to take an 11-6 lead after 10 minutes.
The Norse reeled off five-straight points out of the break to even the score at 11 apiece, but the RedHawks had an answer for that. MU countered with a 9-0 run with Kayla Brown starting the spurt by converting a layup. She also drained a three in that surge while Miami also got baskets from Dickerson and Jazz Smith to go up 20-11 with 5:13 to go in the half. NKU battled back and trimmed the deficit to five before halftime as Miami maintained a 26-21 lead.
Similar to the second quarter, Northern Kentucky stormed out of the locker room with five-straight points to tie the score at 26-26. Miami responded with seven in a row, capped by a Kristen Levering three-pointer to go back ahead 33-26. After a Norse three made it a four-point game, the Red and White really seized control of things the rest of the quarter, with Brown scoring seven in the quarter to pace what was a pretty balanced effort. Right after NKU tied things at 26 apiece early, MU finished the quarter on a 19-6 run to grab a 45-32 lead after three quarters. Miami added another 15 points in the final period and never once let Northern Kentucky to cut its lead to single digits.
The RedHawks shot 42.6 percent from the field, with most of the damage coming inside, while the Norse hit 40 percent of their shots. NKU was plus-six beyond the arc, going 5-of-13 versus MU’s 3-of-13 clip. Neither team had a memorable night at the charity stripe, with MU hitting 11-of-18 free throws (61.1 percent) against NKU’s 9-of-20 figure (45 percent). Miami enjoyed a 32-31 edge in rebounding while forcing 19 Northern Kentucky turnovers against just 13 of its own.
Dickerson’s 20 points led all scorers as she was an efficient 8-of-14 from the floor while Brown chipped in 14 more. Smith’s five rebounds led MU.
The RedHawks are back in action on Saturday when they wrap up their season-opening three-game road trip at Morehead State. Opening tip is at noon.
