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 2008 Northern Kentucky women's basketball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 18: 2008 Northern Kentucky Women's Basketball
SEASON SUMMARY
The 2007-08 Northern Kentucky University women's basketball team finished 28-8 on a year in which the Norse secured their second NCAA Division II Championship in the sport. NKU opened the season with non-conference wins against Brescia and Mercyhurst, but quickly fell to 0-1 in league play with an 83-66 loss at Quincy to close out the month of November. The Norse would open December back on track with a 75-67 win at SIU Edwardsville to pull even in league play, and then went on to string together five straight non-conference wins before falling 66-55 at Grand Valley State on Dec. 29. Ranked 15
th nationally, they would begin the New Year with a 61-39 home win against Rockhurst, but dropped a 55-52 decision to No. 6 Drury to fall to 2-2 in the GLVC. NKU proceeded to finish off Indianapolis, Saint Joseph's, Southern Indiana and Kentucky Wesleyan in four straight wins, but dropped back-to-back GLVC contests in Missouri. The Norse suffered a 56-51 setback at Missouri-St. Louis on Jan. 24 and a 66-42 loss at Missouri S&T two days later. They then reached their longest league winning streak of the season at five games before hitting the road for the final four GLVC contests of the regular season, the first two of which they lost. NKU fell 73-60 at Bellarmine and 74-66 at Kentucky Wesleyan, prior to winning at UW-Parkside and Lewis to earn the No. 1 seed in the East Division for the GLVC Tournament, which was held at Drury. The Norse opened the postseason with a 68-56 victory over SIU Edwardsville, topped Missouri S&T 79-67 in the semifinals, and lost a 71-67 thriller to host Drury in front of 1,500 fans. After making the 600-mile trip back to campus, the Norse learned they would have to turn right around and head back another nine-hour ride to Springfield, Missouri for the NCAA Midwest Regional. It looked as if the Norse would be make a quick return to campus as they found themselves down 33-20 to UIndy at halftime of the regional quarterfinal. NKU rallied to outscore the Greyhounds 35-21 in the final 20 minutes to escape wit a 55-54 victory, which earned the Norse a rematch with the host Lady Panthers. This time, however, Drury could not secure its third victory of the season over the Norse, who eliminated the host team 84-65 behind Cassie Brannen's 29 points and 14 rebounds. In the regional final against Missouri S&T, which finished second to Drury in the GLVC West at 15-4 and was playing in its first-ever regional tournament, NKU topped the Miners 60-52 and earned the coveted bid to the Elite Eight. There in Kearney, Nebraska, NKU opened with a 13-point victory over Wingate, 78-65, and edged Alaska-Anchorage 57-54 for a shot at the national title against South Dakota. In front of 3,067 fans, the Norse earned revenge over a South Dakota team that had defeated them in the 2003 NCAA Championship final - five years to the date (March 29, 2003). With 15 minutes remaining in the 2008 final, South Dakota led NKU 38-26, but the Norse rallied behind Angela Healy's 14 points and 13 rebounds, as well as Brannen's team-high 18 points, to secure its second national crown, 63-58, and snap the Coyotes' 31-game winning streak in their final season of Division II competition.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Angela Healy
- NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player
- Led NKU in scoring (509) and rebounding (335) in 2007-08
- All-America Honorable Mention (2007-08)
- All-GLVC First Team (2007-08)
- All-GLVC Second Team (2006-07)
- Ranks No. 18 in school history in career points (1,262)
- Ranks No. 2 in school history in career blocks (137)
Cassie Brannen
- Led NKU in field goal percentage (.556) and blocks (75) in 2007-08
- All-GLVC Third Team (2007-08)
- All-GLVC Second Team (2008-09)
- 75 blocks on the season are second-most in school history (She owns top-three marks)
- Ranks No. 1 in school history in career blocks (252, more than 100 in front of second place)
Jessie Slack
- Led NKU in free-throw percentage (.850) and three-pointers made (68) in 2007-08
- All-GLVC Third Team (2007-08)
- WBCA All-American (2008-09)
- Ranks No. 5 in school history in career three-pointers made (135)
- Ranks No. 6 in school history in career three-point percentage (.421)
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 2008 Northern Kentucky squad was on record as stating the Midwest Regional title was the goal for the year, but they also strived to never let the season end. Despite finishing the conference season tied for first with UIndy in the GLVC East at 13-6 - the most losses a team has ever had atop the league standings in GLVC history - the Norse endured back-to-back lengthy road trips to Drury to earn the regional crown and set up what would be a memorable run to the school's and conference's second NCAA Championship in women's basketball. And unlike its first title run in 1999-00, when it was a top-five fixture in the WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll throughout the year, the 2007-08 team earned its highest ranking of No. 11 on Dec. 18 and completely fell out of the national rankings for the rest of the year on Jan. 29. During the final seven weeks of the season, the eventual NCAA Champions were unranked, but certainly heating up for the title run. The Norse would claim 10 of their final 11 games of the season, with the lone setback coming in the GLVC Tournament final against host Drury. The Lady Panthers were led by GLVC Player of the Year and Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner (and current Drury head coach) Molly (Carter) Miller, who would later be inducted alongside legendary NKU head coach Nancy Winstel as part of the Class of 2014 in the GLVC Hall of Fame. The following year, Northern Kentucky inducted its 2008 women's basketball team into the school's Hall of Fame. At the end of the 2008 season, NKU earned the No. 1 ranking in the final poll, which it would hold on to through the preseason and the first seven weeks of the 2008-09 season. The Norse would reclaim the No. 1 ranking on March 10, 2009, but no other GLVC team would ascend that high until Lewis locked down the top spot in the coaches poll over a five-week span during the 2014-15 season. Since NKU's title run in 2008, only Drury (2013-14) and Lewis (2014-15) have secured bids to the Elite Eight.