Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference will celebrate its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. This week’s featured team is the 2000 Northern Kentucky women’s basketball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 16: 2000 Northern Kentucky Women’s Basketball
SEASON SUMMARY
The 1999-2000 Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team finished the season 32-2 with a NCAA Championship, including a near-perfect record of 19-1 in GLVC action. The Norse lost only to Florida Southern and Bellarmine on the year. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the season is the immediate chemistry NKU had to form as only two starters were back from a group that had reached the national semifinals the previous year. Prior to the 1999-2000 campaign, NKU was ranked fifth in the national preseason poll. But of NKU’s 11 players on the 1999-2000 squad, only one (Lisa Geiman) was a senior, while four juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen filled out the roster. After an early loss to Florida Southern, the Norse dropped the Bellarmine contest at home in the 10th game of the season. They would not lose again. NKU ended the year on a 24-game winning streak, including a 76-58 win over No. 8 seed IPFW in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinal, followed by a 73-55 rematch win over fifth-seeded Bellarmine in the semis, and a 20-point victory over No. 7 Indianapolis, 77-57, in the championship final. The road to the national title became increasingly tougher as the Norse would have to rally from second-half deficits in all five of its NCAA Tournament games, including twice being down by double digits. At the NCAA Regional, the Norse fought off Michigan Tech 60-59, and then disposed of Northern Michigan 77-70 to reach the Elite Eight. At that time, the Elite Eight was unseeded, so second-ranked NKU drew top-ranked and undefeated Saint Rose in the national quarterfinals. A 60-50 win advanced the Norse to the semis where they defeated Western Washington, 80-74. NKU went on to knock off North Dakota State in overtime, 71-62, to win the school’s first national crown.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Michelle Cottrell
- Earned her first of three Kodak & WBCA All-America honors (2000, 2001, 2002)
- Earned her first of three GLVC Player of the Year honors (2000, 2001, 2002)
- NCAA National Championship Most Outstanding Player (2000)
- DII Bulletin National Player of the Year (2001, 2002)
- GLVC Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award/Female Athlete of the Year (2002)
- All-GLVC First Team (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
- GLVC Freshman of the Year (1999)
- NCAA Top VIII Award (2003)
- NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient
- NKU’s all-time leading scorer (2,241 points) and shooter (.603 FG%), and is second in rebounds (1,103)
- Scored 589 points during the 1999-00 season, which is the third-most all-time in school history
- GLVC Hall of Fame Class of 2009
Michelle Tuchfarber
- Team Captain
- All-GLVC Second Team (1999, 2000)
- All-GLVC Honorable Mention (1998, 2001)
Heather Livingstone
- All-GLVC Honorable Mention (2000)
- All-GLVC Second Team (2001)
Nancy Winstel
- WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year (2000)
- Division II Bulletin Coach of the Decade (2009)
- Two-Time NCAA Champion (2000, 2008)
- Six-Time GLVC Coach of the Year (1986, 1987, 1991, 1999, 2000, 2006)
- Coached six GLVC Player of the Year and one GLVC Freshman of the Year honorees
- NKU Career Coaching Record (29 years): 636-214 (.748)
- WBCA Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award (2015)
- GLVC Hall of Fame Class of 2014
LASTING LEGACY
The 2000 Northern Kentucky squad not only secured the school’s first-ever NCAA Championship, but it was also the first women’s national title in league history as well. The victory made NKU the only school in the state of Kentucky to win a national championship in a women’s sport. It also proved to be a significant milestone for the school as in recent years they had dealt with near-misses in both women’s and men’s basketball. In 1999, the women’s team advanced to the national semifinals, just as it had done in 1987. The men’s team had gone to back-to-back national title games in 1996 and 1997, but the prize of an NCAA title had always slipped the grasp of NKU until this 1999-2000 team. Michelle Cottrell is arguably the most decorated women’s basketball player in GLVC history as she is the lone three-time GLVC Player of the Year, a GLVC Freshman of the Year, a Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner as the Female Athlete of the Year, and a member of the GLVC Hall of Fame. The Norse, who went on to claim the 2008 NCAA Championship, own a league-best eight GLVC Championships. Following the 1999-2000 season, NKU earned the 2006 and 2009 GLVC titles before resigning from the league to reclassify to NCAA Division I following the 2011-12 season.