No. 11 UK women’s basketball went on the road to take on the Northern Kentucky University Norse for its second away game of the season. The instate foe provided some scares with a hard-fought first half, but the Cats were able to pull away late to win 84-65.

The final scoreboard does not do justice in representing the effort displayed by NKU. After outscoring UK 24-13 in the second quarter, the Norse would go into halftime with a four-point lead.

Unfortunately for the Norse, that quarter would match their total output in the second half as UK would secure the game by outscoring them 47-24 in the second half.

Northern Kentucky was held to just 30 percent from the field after halftime.

What played a big part in helping UK pull away in the second half was how well the Cats shot from the field. The team would continue its hot streak on the offensive end by shooting 55 percent from the field and 42 percent from three.

The main catalyst for the surging offense was senior Janee Thompson. The point guard came in as UK’s second leading scorer and second on the team in three-pointers made, and she did not disappoint as she would lead the team with 21 points and seven assists Wednesday night.

Thompson’s uptick in scoring can be in part thanks to the development of freshman Taylor Murray as she takes over more of the ball-handling responsibilities.

Playing off-ball allows Thompson to be more of a threat shooting and she has proved to be valuable as she knocked down 3-of-4 from three in this game.

Murray has done well to earn Matthew Mitchell’s trust by being a difference maker on defense. Her ability to pressure opposing guards to turnover the ball showed tonight as she came away with three steals.

The freshman guard also showed a level head in her second collegiate road game by shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Murray finished the game with eight points, three assists and a career-high seven rebounds, all coming on the defensive end.

UK will put its 7-0 record on the line in the team’s next game at Rupp Arena as they take on rival Louisville Cardinals on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.