Jan. 23, 2008

Final Stats

NIU 69, Toledo 49

DEKALB, Ill.-The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team posted an impressive 69-49 victory over Toledo Wednesday night at the Convocation Center.

The Huskies (6-12, 2-3) came into Wednesday's game coming off a disappointing loss to Western Michigan on the road. The Rockets (9-8, 2-3) came into the Convocation Center brimming with confidence following their victory over first place Ball State Saturday afternoon, setting up a very interesting match up.

"I was very pleased with how the team bounced back after a rough outing at Western Michigan," NIU head coach Carol Owens said. "I was pleased with how we came back and how hard we played after such a tough loss. I thought we did a great job of changing up our defense. We played more zone. They didn't shoot that well."

After falling behind 6-4 in the opening minutes, the Huskies went on a 10-0 run to take a 14-6 lead with 13:13 left to play in the half and never looked back. NIU shot 44 percent from the floor in the first half, going 15-34 from the field. NIU went into the break with a 38-15 lead.

Northern Illinois continued its solid shooting in the second half, leading by as many as 26 points in the opening minutes of the second half. The Rockets went on a little bit of a run midway through the second half, closing the gap to 16, with 11:02 left to play. The Huskies responded

Whitney Lowe (Buchnell, Ill./Prairie City) continued her solid play since conference season began, scoring nine points in the first half, finishing with her first double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds. Likewise for Jessie Wilcox (Oshkosh, Wis./West). The junior guard scored seven first-half points and also ended the game with 15. Shari' Welton (Calumet City, Ill./Thornwood) had another solid performance finishing in double figures with 11 points.

"We knew that [rebounding] was one of Shari's and my jobs," Lowe said. "It was something we've been focusing on. It's do or die. I only have a few months left with my teammates, there are no second chances. It is definitely an attitude thing."

The Huskies finished the game shooting 42 percent from the floor, and outrebounded the Rockets 48-36. Toledo shot 33 percent for the game and turned the ball over 15 times, which the Huskies converted into 19 points.

The Huskies are back on the road Saturday Jan. 26, 2008 when NIU travels to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami (OH) Redhawks. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. CST. Fans can follow all the action with Bill Baker on 1360 AM WLBK.