Gaerke's last-second shot sinks unbeaten St. Joseph’s, NKU pulls out 82-80 victory
(This story was originally published on Feb. 22, 1990)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Hitting a last-second shot to beat an undefeated opponent is a basketball player's dream. Northern Kentucky University’s Valerie Gaerke lived out that dream on Thursday night in Regents Hall.
“I knew time was running down, and it was either going into overtime or we would get the last shot and win the game,” Gaerke said of her short jumper with one second remaining that gave the Lady Norse a heart-stopping 82-80 win over previously unbeaten St. Joseph’s. “I didn't want to make another pass, so I drove in, put it up and luckily, it went in.”
In doing so, the 5-foot-10 sophomore from Ft. Recovery, Ohio, ended the Lady Pumas’ 24-game winning-streak and boosted Northern's record to 17-7, 10-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. St. Joseph’s dropped to 24-1, 14-1 in the GLVC.
Gaerke finished the game with only five points, but the sophomore wasn't 100 percent, either. “We weren’t even sure if Valerie was going to play tonight,” said NKU head coach Nancy Winstel. “She has a strep throat and a respiratory infection, and she was sweating profusely tonight. Valerie is really coming into her own. Last year, she wouldn’t have had anything to do with the ball at the end of the game, but now she’s going to shoot it.
“If it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
St. Joseph’s Jeanette Yeoman hit a short jumper to tie the game at 80-80 with 17 seconds remaining, but Winstel decided not to use a timeout to set up a final play. “We were running our offense and getting good shots the entire game, so we decided not to use a timeout,” she said. “But I wanted to take the last shot. I didn't want to just come down and shoot it.
“I don't think the girls could hear me, but I was saying, ‘Be patient, be patient . . . Now.’ We just ran our offense that had been effective and it worked. I look smart tonight, but there's been many nights I didn’t look so smart.”
“The last three minutes of the game, Annie Levens didn’t let Yeoman touch the ball,” said Winstel. “Once Yeoman gets the ball, she’s difficult to stop. But if you don’t touch the ball, it’s tough to score.”
Gaerke was also a key in stopping Yeoman, the GLVC’s leading scorer. “The last time we played them (a 97-79 St. Joseph’s win), she scored 38 points against us,” Gaerke said, “but this time we contained her pretty well in the first half.”
Containing Honigford proved to be more than St. Joseph’s could handle. The 6-foot senior scored at will against the Pumas’ man-to-man defense, bulling her way for inside basket or sinking shots from the perimeter. The Cloverdale, Ohio, native passed Melissa (Wood) Fleming to become the fourth all-time leading scorer (1,410 points) at NKU.
After St. Joseph’s rallied to take a 74-68 lead with a 10-0 spurt, Honigford took over by scoring six of Northern’s next 10 points to give the Lady Norse a 78-76 advantage with 2:44 remaining.
“I put some in early tonight, and I just had that look in my eye,” Honigford said of her 34-point effort, which tied her career-high set against Lewis earlier this season. “Melissa (Slone) really looks for me, and a lot of her assist are to me. The guards did a great job of getting the ball inside, and I can’t give them enough credit.”
Honigford’s presence was also instrumental in the final shot by Gaerke. St. Joseph’s double-teamed her, leaving Gaerke alone on the left wing.
“I wanted that last shot, but they were on me,” Honigford said of the game’s final hectic moments. “They probably thought the ball was coming to me, and Valerie was wide open. I had confidence in her, and as soon as she shot the boll, I knew it was going in.”
NKU’s starting frontcourt of Honigford, Christie Freppon (18 points) and Holly Cauffman (13 points) outscored St. Joseph's starting front line by a 65-12 margin.
“We wanted to establish on inside attack,” said Winstel, “and when I say inside, I mean Honigford and I mean Freppon.”
“Linda caught some tough passes tonight,” Winstel added. “It’s her senior year, her and Holly both, and it’s been a while since we beat St. Joe’s. They played their heart and soul out.”
In addition to Yeoman's 27 points, Glass scored 26 points off the bench and Radosevic added 11. Lori McClellan scored 10 points in a reserve role for NKU, including two 3-pointers to spark a first-half run by the Lady Norse.
Slone led Northern with eight assists and was praised afterward by Winstel. “In the first half, Melissa Slone came in against their zone and really moved our offense,” she said. “She reversed the ball and did a great job. That's one of those things that go unnoticed, but she really did a nice job.”
And how does it feel to topple St. Joseph’s from the ranks of the unbeaten, Linda Honigford? “That is just the best thing that could ever happen,” said the jubilant senior. “I have never won at St. Joe’s, and it’s painful to realize next year I won’t be coming back to try and win there. But at least I know we beat them here.”
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