HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- The first game of the Lady Miners’ swing through the state of Kentucky didn’t go very well, as UMR shot just 32.8 percent and suffered a 72-51 loss at Northern Kentucky Thursday night.

UMR had a 6-4 lead on a layup by Nicole Dierking at the 16:50 mark of the first half, but didn’t score again until there was 6:48 on the clock when Emily Petrea hit a three-pointer. The drought prevented the Lady Miners from taking advantage of NKU’s struggles from the field during that stretch, although the Norse was able to build a 10-point lead in that time.

After Petrea’s three-pointer, Maggie Thompson made a steal and layup under the NKU basket to cut the lead to five at 16-11. UMR got to within four at 19-15 on a basket by Katie Bunge with 4:48 to go in the half, but the Lady Miners scored just one more basket over the balance of the half and found themselves staring at a 30-17 deficit at the intermission.

UMR was able to close to within seven on a basket by Bunge four minutes into the second half, but the Norse then rattled off 16 of the next 22 points to go up by 17 at 48-31 on a three-point play by Brittany Winner at the 11:33 mark.

The closest UMR got after that point was 14.

No Lady Miner scored in double figures in the game, as four players finished with eight points apiece. UMR got that total from Bunge, Dierking, Petrea and Tamara McCaskill in a game where it made just 20 of its 61 field goal attempts and three three-point shots in 16 attempts.

UMR (8-6, 2-5 Great Lakes Valley Conference) will play at Bellarmine Saturday at noon (Central time). The Knights beat Missouri-St. Louis 67-49 Thursday night.