Northern Kentucky Norse women's basketball

Northern Kentucky Norse
Northern Kentucky Norse
	2025–26 Northern Kentucky Norse women's basketball team
University	Northern Kentucky University
Head coach	Jeff Hans (2nd season)
Conference	Horizon League
Location	Highland Heights, Kentucky
Arena	Truist Arena ; (capacity: 9,200)
Nickname	Norse
Colors	Black, gold, and white;
Uniforms
NCAA tournament champions
	2000, 2008
Runner-up	2003*
Other NCAA tournament results
Runner-up	2003*
Final Four	1987, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2008*
Elite Eight	1987, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2008
Sweet Sixteen	1987, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2008
Appearances	1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012*
Conference tournament champions
	GLVC: 1999, 2000, 2006, 2009
Conference regular-season champions
	GLVC: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1999, 2000, 2002
	* at Division II level

Last updated September 11, 2025

The Northern Kentucky Norse women's basketball team represents Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States.^[2]

History

The Norse began play in 1974. From 1985 to 2012, they played in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. From 2012 to 2015, they played in the Atlantic Sun Conference, now known as the ASUN Conference, before joining the Horizon League. As of the end of the 2015–16 season, they have an all-time record of 880–361. In 2000, the Norse won the NCAA Women's Division II Basketball Championship in overtime 71–62 over North Dakota State. This was the first title in the history of the school. In 2003, they finished as runner-up to South Dakota State 65–50. In 2008, the Norse beat South Dakota 63–58 to win their second championship. In their first season in Division I (2012–13), they finished 15–13, but they were invited to the Women's Basketball Invitational. The following year, they went to the second round of the WBI. They also made the WBI in 2016. ^[3]^[4]

Postseason results

The Norse had a 27–18 record from twenty NCAA Tournament appearances at the Division II level.

NCAA Division II tournament results

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1982	First round	Oakland	L, 75–77
1985	Regional Finals Elite Eight	Atlanta Central Missouri State	W, 81–69 L, 63–79
1986	First round	Bellarmine	L, 52–69
1987	Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four	Wright State West Texas State New Haven	W, 74–63 W, 64–55 L, 74–77 (OT)
1988	First round	Lake Superior State	L, 76–77 (2OT)
1989	First round	Oakland	L, 93–95 (OT)
1991	First round	Northern Michigan	L, 63–67
1992	First round	Northern Michigan	L, 69–73
1999	Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four	Grand Valley State Michigan Tech Indiana (PA) Arkansas Tech	W, 85–67 W, 65–63 W, 75–67 L, 57–62
2000	Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	Michigan Tech Northern Michigan Saint Rose Western Washington North Dakota State	W, 60–59 W, 77–70 W, 60–50 W, 80–74 W, 71–62 (OT)
2001	First round	Gannon	L, 64–73
2002	First round Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Northern Michigan Lake Superior State Southern Indiana South Dakota State	W, 73–60 W, 71–62 W, 69–66 L, 67–68
2003	First round Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	Grand Valley State Indianapolis Quincy Washburn California (PA) South Dakota State	W, 69–63 W, 66–57 W, 64–61 W, 65–63 W, 45–43 L, 50–65
2004	First round	Quincy	L, 51–49
2006	First round Second Round	Michigan Tech Grand Valley State	W, 67–66 L, 70–91
2007	First round	Ferris State	L, 69–70
2008	First round Second Round Third round Elite Eight Final Four National Championship	Indianapolis Drury Missouri–Rolla Wingate Alaska Anchorage South Dakota	W, 55–54 W, 84–65 W, 60–52 W, 78–65 W, 57–54 W, 63–58
2009	First round Second Round	Grand Valley State Michigan Tech	W, 66–57 L, 53–76
2010	First round	Michigan Tech	L, 49–69
2012	First round	Quincy	L, 65–75

References

↑ "Color Palette". Northern Kentucky University Athletic Department Brand Identity Guidelines (PDF). March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
↑ "Northern Kentucky University Athletics". www.nkunorse.com.
↑ "Northern Kentucky University Athletics" (PDF). www.nkunorse.com.
↑ "Northern Kentucky University Athletics" (PDF). www.nkunorse.com.

External links

Official website

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[1] "Color Palette". Northern Kentucky University Athletic Department Brand Identity Guidelines (PDF). March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2019.

[2] "Northern Kentucky University Athletics". www.nkunorse.com.

[3] "Northern Kentucky University Athletics" (PDF). www.nkunorse.com.

[4] "Northern Kentucky University Athletics" (PDF). www.nkunorse.com.

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v t e Northern Kentucky Norse women's basketball
Venues	Regents Hall (1974–2008) Truist Arena (2008–present)
Culture & lore	History Victor E. Viking
People	Head coaches
Seasons	List of seasons 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Horizon League women's basketball
Current teams	Cleveland State Vikings Detroit Mercy Titans Green Bay Phoenix IU Indy Jaguars Milwaukee Panthers Northern Kentucky Norse Oakland Golden Grizzlies Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Robert Morris Colonials Wright State Raiders Youngstown State Penguins
Future team	Northern Illinois Huskies (rejoining in 2026)
Championships & awards	Horizon League women's basketball tournament Coach of the Year Player of the Year
Seasons	1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Northern Kentucky University
History	Kentucky YMCA of Greater Cincinnati College Lands
Colleges	Salmon P. Chase College of Law
Athletics	Norse Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Truist Arena NKU Soccer Stadium
People	Steve Chabot George Clooney Ken Lucas Tom Luken Jeff Walz