Feb. 21, 2007
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DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team was able to withstand a 17-2 second half run by Toledo to defeat the Rockets, 73-70, Wednesday night at the Convocation Center.
"This was a great win tonight for our team," NIU head coach Carol Owens said. "We came out shooting really well and when they made their run in the second half, we were able to withstand that."
With the Huskies leading 54-38 16:20 left to play, Toledo (8-18, 4-10) mounted a charge. An Allie Clifton jumper started the run. A lay up by Margaret Batteast halted the Rockets momentum briefly. A lay up from Savannah Werner and a three by Kristi Zeller cut the Huskie advantage to one, 56-55, with 10:13 left to play.
That would be the closest the Rockets would get. A three-pointer by Tara Michels gave the Huskies a four-point cushion, but the Rockets wouldn't go away. They kept on the offensive, cutting the deficit to one three more times. They had a shot to send the game into overtime, but Jessie Wilcox blocked Clifton's three-point attempt and Mary Basic corralled the loose ball to seal the victory for the Huskies.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 17-9 on the season and 8-6 in the Mid-American Conference with two games left to play in the regular season. It's the most wins for NIU since 2001-02 when the Huskies finished 17-13.
Stephanie Raymond led all scorers with 30 points. It is the third time she has hit the 30-point mark. The last time she scored 30 was earlier this season against Kansas. She went 9-18 from the field, 5-7 from three-point land and 7-7 from the free throw line.
"What makes Stephanie such a great player is she's unselfish," Owens said. "We've been asking her to look for her shot a little more. I'm shocked she only had six assists tonight because she could easily have been in double digits in that as well. Her all around game is impressive."
The Huskies had a strong night shooting from three-point territory. They connected on a season-high 13 threes. Six different Huskies made at least one three pointer. NIU was 8-16 from beyond the arc in the first half before finishing the game 13-28.
"Our team all year has hit threes," she said. "Other teams know we can shoot threes, so they are hesitant to play zone against us. When we miss shots, I don't tell them not to take them and they have confidence they will hit the next one."
