March 4, 2006

Box Score

DeKalb, IL -- First-year Northern Illinois University women's basketball coach Carol Owens knew this wasn't going to be easy and it wasn't.

That sentiment applied both to Saturday's (March 4) 73-65 victory over Miami (Ohio) University in the first round of the 2006 Mid-American Conference Postseason Tournament, as well as getting the NIU program back on track toward the days when postseason play was a given. The two-time Northern Illinois Hall of Fame inductee also realizes only the first small steps have been taken and a huge hurdle awaits on Wednesday (March 8) at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

That's when the Huskies face regular-season MAC champion and tourney top seed Bowling Green State University in the third quarterfinal game of that day at 4:30 p.m. (CST). For NIU, it'll mark the first trip to Cleveland since the 2001-02 campaign when the Huskies reached the semifinals of that year's league summit. For the past three seasons, Northern Illinois was never able to advance past the first-round game despite having the homecourt for two of those three tries.

"I am very excited for our team and very proud of our girls. We set this goal on the first day of practice," Owens noted.

In addition to reaching the quarterfinals of the MAC tourney, the Huskies improved to 12-16 overall -- a definite improvement over last year's 7-21 ledger. It also equals the number of victories recorded in 2002-03 and 2003-04. For Miami's RedHawks -- the No. 5 placefinisher in the East Division -- this marked MU's first-ever initial-round exit from the tourney with the season finishing at 8-20.

While Northern Illinois jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, the RedHawks trimmed a one-time, 11-point deficit down to just one, 30-29, with 2:25 left before intermission. A mini-Huskie run enabled the hosts to claim a six-point halftime lead, 36-30, thanks largely to the one-two scoring punch of Stephanie Raymond (Rockford / Lutheran) and Mary Basic (Lemont / Chicago Heights Marian Catholic), who had 12 and 10, respectively, in the opening 20 minutes.

Although NIU was able to move up to a lead of eight, 40-32, Miami came up with a counter-surge that ultimately led to an eight-point RedHawk advantage, 53-45, just before the mid-point of the second half. After being fouled on a three-point attempt, Raymond made all three free throws to ignite a Huskie comeback that produced the fifth deadlock of the second half at 61-all.

Kristin Wiener (Apple Valley, MN / Academy of Holy Angels) made one of two free throws followed one possession latter by two from the foul line by Basic for a 64-61 lead. After a Miami miss, Raymond went to the line and hit the first charity toss while Jennifer Uptmor (Centerville, OH) snared the missed second try and the Huskies ultimately got a lay-up underneath by Wiener thanks to a Raymond assist. The 5-5 junior guard then hit four more free throws and Basic added another pair to help account for the final NIU points and victory.

All told, Raymond (27), Basic (25) and Wiener (15) accounted for all but six of Northern Illinois' points and the trio also snared 21 of the Huskies' 40 boards with Uptmor grabbing 10 caroms.

"Those three are the three you want to play well," Owens added. "I feel that day in and out, they bring it offensivelly and defensively. (Mary) struggled for a few games and she needed to step up. She has the potential and tonight showed what she can be.

"Steph was the leader tonight like she has been so many times. She had six assists and 27 points, 10-of-11 from the line. Everything you want from a leader. Kristin had a good game at Miami and they really tried to stop her, but she still rebounded well," Owens said. "Miami is a good rebounding team, they're relentless on the boards, but we grabbed 32 defensive boards."

In addition to the 40-37 edge in rebounding, the Huskies benefited from keeping their turnovers down, although the hosts still trailed Miami 16-12 in that category. NIU hit 22-of-47 from the floor (.468) in comparison to MU's 26-of-72 (.361) and had two more three-pointers. However, the biggest differential was at the free throw line where the RedHawks converted 10-of-11 (.909) while Northern Illinois cashed in 24-of-31 (.774).

"Free throws are really the difference in the game. They did a great job getting to the line," Miami coach Maria Fantanarosa said. "The story of our season and tonight has been one of runs. It's been a roller-coaster ride. We just haven't been able to play 40 minutes of good basketball. I'm just very disappointed for Cindi (Merrill) to end her career this way. Once we lost Amanda Jackson, it put a gorilla on her back. We'll definitely miss Cindi, but she's been a part of two championships at Miami."

(For further information, please contact Steve Nemeth) --NIU--