Dec. 15, 2010

Box Score | Box Score 

Northwestern 68, NIU 59 Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill.

1st 2nd Final  Northern Illinois 25 34 59  Northwestern 32 36 68 Box Score | Box Score  Attendance: 3,584  Player of the Game Marke Freeman Points: 18 Rebounds: 7 Assists: 1 FG: 5-13 (.385)  Team Stats NIU OPP  FG Percentage 41.5 52.1  3-Point FG Percentage 46.2 30.8  FT Percentage 69.2 60.9  Offensive Rebounds 16 12  Defensive Rebounds 18 18  Total Rebounds 34 30  Assists 12 20  Turnovers 21 18  Blocks 1 10  Steals 7 7  Points in the Paint 30 38  Points off Turnovers 19 23  Women's Basketball Quick Links · NIU Women's Hoops on Facebook · 2010-11 Schedule/Results · 2010-11 Statistics · Head Coach Kathi Bennett

 

EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northern Illinois women's basketball team could not hold on to a four-point second half lead, falling at Northwestern, 68-59, Wednesday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northern Illinois (5-5) led 46-42 with 9:21 left. Marke Freeman capped off an 11-3 run with one of her four three-pointers to give the Huskies' their largest lead of the game. The next six minutes were a see-saw affair with three ties and three lead changes. The contest was tied at 56 with 3:46 remaining when the Wildcats (9-2) pulled away with a 7-0 run. The spurt capped by back-to-back lay-ups by 6-foot-5 center Amy Jaeschke, accounting for four of her game-high 33 points.

As a whole the game saw six ties and seven lead changes. Northern Illinois got off to a slow start, down 10-2 just over four minutes in. The Huskies responded with a 10-2 run of their own to tie the game at 12 with 11:29 on the first half clock.

Despite the burst, Northwestern relentlessly pounded the ball inside to Jaeschke to put NIU down by as many as 14 points with 5:09 on the clock. After that, the Huskies held Northwestern to just one field goal to close the gap to seven, 68-59, at the break.

The Huskies were in the game despite nearly a 20-percent difference in shooting percentage. NIU went 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from the field, while the Wildcats hit 58.3 percent (14-24) of their first-half attempts. Northern Illinois stayed in the game by outrebounding NU, 16-10 in the first half, and 34-30 overall.

NIU turned the seven-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead partly by limiting turnovers. The Huskies committed 14 first half turnovers, but only seven in the second. The Huskies also got offensive boosts from Freeman, who scored 14 of her 18 points in the second, and Courtney Shelton, who dished out seven of her career-high nine assists in the last 20 minutes.

Senior center Ebony Ellis put in a season-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Sophomore Brittney Callahan and freshman Ashley Sneed tallied six points each. Davis and Freeman led the Huskies with seven rebounds apiece.

The game was played on "Field Trip Day" at Welsh-Ryan Arena in front of 3,584 fans, around 3,100 of which came from 23 near-by elementary schools.

The Huskies conclude their second five-game road trip of the year, and finish a stretch of 10-of-11 games played away from the Convocation Center when they meet Bradley, Saturday at 7 p.m.