Dec. 29, 2011
Final Stats
Final Box: EIU 72, NIU 62 
EIU 72, NIU 62
Lantz Arena | Charleston, Ill.
|
|
|
1st |
2nd |
Final |
Northern Illinois
|
32 |
30 |
62 |
Eastern Illinois
|
33 |
39 |
72 |
|
|
|
| Player of the Game |
 |
Courtney Shelton
Points: 22
Rebounds: 3
Steals: 1
Assists: 1
|
|
Team Stats
|
NIU |
OPP |
| FG Percentage |
45.8 |
33.9 |
| 3-Point FG Percentage |
35.7 |
11.1 |
| FT Percentage |
72.2 |
84.6 |
| Offensive Rebounds |
5 |
16 |
| Defensive Rebounds |
24 |
22 |
| Total Rebounds |
29 |
38 |
| Assists |
10 |
10 |
| Turnovers |
22 |
12 |
| Blocks |
4 |
3 |
| Steals |
2 |
11 |
| Points in the Paint |
22 |
26 |
| Points Off Turnovers |
16 |
26 |
| Second Chance Points |
4 |
15 |
|
|
| |
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Northern Illinois women's basketball team's third bid for a three-game winning streak came up short against Eastern Illinois, 72-62, on Thursday night at Lantz Arena. The setback came due large in part to the Panthers' opportunistic defense and sound offensive rebounding.
Despite a solid shooting night for NIU (45.8 percent), the Huskies could not overcome a 22-12 turnover discrepancy that led to 26 EIU points. Conversely, NIU (6-5) held its opponent under 40 percent shooting (33.9 percent) for the sixth straight game but EIU (8-4) cleaned up its misses with a 16-5 offensive rebounding edge that helped the Panthers notch a 15-4 advantage on second chance points.
The Panthers, who are now a perfect 5-0 at home, were also the beneficiaries of aggressive offense as they drew 25 fouls to NIU's 16 and racked up a 33-13 edge in free throws made en route to ending a five-game losing streak to the Huskies.
The Huskies started out with an 8-2 lead with help from three-pointers by Courtney Shelton (Rockford, Ill./Hononegah) and Satavia Taylor (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook/Loyola) but EIU answered with an 18-10 run over the next eight minutes to grab a 20-18 lead. The teams then went back and forth the rest of the half, creating six lead changes and four ties, as EIU took a 33-32 lead into the locker room.
NIU opened the second half with a well-executed play that resulted in a Claire Jakubicek (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) made jumper in the paint to reclaim a 34-33 lead, but the Panthers ran off six straight points immediately after. Following two great plays by Jenna Thorp (Hinckley, Ill./Hinckley-Big Rock) that led to five points and another tie in the game, the Panthers erupted for eight consecutive points to take a commanding 47-39 lead with 12:07 remaining.
Nearly three minutes later, EIU would claim its largest lead of the game, 57-43, with 9:17 left and the Huskies had very few answers. NIU would eventually get within six points, 66-60, after Shelton connected on a floater with 1:37 left, but never got any closer.
Shelton led all scorers with a season-high 22 points, giving her five double-figure scoring games this season. Jakubicek and Taylor each scored 11. For Jakubicek, it was her fourth double-digit output of the season and first since scoring 19 against Illinois Chicago on Dec. 14. For Taylor, it was her second double-digit scoring effort, matching the 11 points she scored in her Huskie debut on Dec. 11 at Chicago State.
The Huskies have just one day off before returning to action as they travel to Chicago to face No. 19/21 DePaul on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 2 PM CT.
-NIU-
