Final Stats

DeKALB - The NIU women’s basketball team played a well-rounded offensive and defensive game Wednesday night versus SIU Edwardsville as the Cougars (3-6) were held under 50 points and the Huskies (3-5) shot .528 from the field to defeat SIUE, 69-47. The win improved the Huskies to 2-1 at the NIU Convocation Center this season.

Senior Amanda Corral (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) scored a season-high 26 points on an 11-of-17 shooting performance, a new career-high in field goals made. Sophomore Ally Lehman (Nineveh, Ind./Indian Creak) scored 15 points with six assists and three blocks. Danny Pulliam (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) dished five helpers to reach the 200 assist plateau and become the 20th Huskie to reach that mark in her career.

“I thought we shot the ball really well tonight and did nice job shutting their zone down. We were able to get some things going offensively against the zone which was good to see. We did enough in the first half to get the win and we really played hard on the defensive end but I wish we would have played better in the second half,” said Head Coach Kathi Bennett.

The Huskies opened the contest with a hot shooting hand as they made 15-of-30 shots in the first stanza for an even 50-percent field goal percentage. NIU’s offensive furry tied its season-high for points in the first half at 36, last recorded versus Delaware State on Nov. 30.

Defensively, the Huskies were just as strong in the period as they created 15 turnovers and accounted for 15 points off takeaways. The Huskies closed the first period on a 23-5 run.

The Cougars finished the half shooting 37-percent, going 7-for-19 from the field. Micah Jones led the Cougars at the half with five points, scoring three from the free throw line.

Corral led NIU with 13 points in the first half, going 6-of-10 from the field. The senior was followed closely by Lehman, who accounted for eight points.

The Huskies would go on to build a 25-point lead in the second half as Lehman hit a jump shot at the 10:45 mark. The Cougars closed the gap to 15 points in the final half of the stanza as they were 14-of-19 from the free throw line in the period.

However, NIU finished strong as it closed the final six minutes of the game on an 11-4 run. The Huskies forced the Cougars to turn the ball over 20 times on the night, the third-straight game NIU has forced 19-or-more takeaways.

Of their 28 field goals in the contest, a new season-high, the Huskies recorded 19 assists as Lehman led the way with six, followed by Pulliam who registered five in the contest.

Lehman set new career-highs on the night in three-point field goals made (3) and blocks (3) and tied her career mark in assists with six to lead all players in the game.

The Huskies will return to the court Sunday as they head to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on Northern Iowa.