Final Stats

SIUE 93, NIU 67 

EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois - The NIU women’s basketball program opened its 2015-16 campaign on the road Friday night at SIUE, falling to the Ohio Valley Conference’s preseason favorite, 93-67. Ally Lehman (Nineveh, Ind./Indian Creek) registered her second-straight game with a double-double as she scored 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

Kelly Smith (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead ) led all Huskie scorers with 16 points, racking up nine rebounds as well, including six on the offensive glass. Natecia Augusta (Peoria, Ill./Limestone) scored 14 points in her first start since the 2013-14 season.

The game marked the debut of Head Coach Lisa Carlsen, facing off against her mentor Paula Buscher, who she worked for at Nebraska Omaha in her first assistant coaching job.

The opener also saw the return of two Huskies and the debut for three as Augusta and Jazmine Harris (West Allis, Wis./Heritage Christian) returned to the NIU lineup after sitting out last season while freshmen Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), MiKayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret’s Angelican School) debuted.

“We got beat and we were outplayed by a good team tonight. We knew going into the game that SIUE was going to be physical and I knew we had to try and match that,” said Carlsen. “They played a lot less tentative than we did and I thought that was the biggest difference tonight. That really put us in a hole early and that’s difficult to overcome, especially on the road.

“This will be a good teaching tool and good lesson for us moving forward,” Carlsen added.

The Huskies new offense struck with efficiency in the opening seven minutes of the game, shooting 7-of-10 from the field to pace the way for NIU’s 20-point period. The Cougars closed with a five point lead at the end of the stanza, 25-20.

While the Huskies worked well in the paint in the first half, closing with 14 points, SIUE was strong behind the three-point line as it converted six of its 10 shots taken. The Cougars would take a 16-point lead into the half as NIU trailed, 47-31.

Augusta showed her form of yore in the half, scoring 10-points to pace the Huskies offensive attack, weaving her way through the point as she was led and fed by point guard Lacia Gorman (Wayne, Ind./Wayne/Wisconsin). Gorman closed the first half with three assists.

The redshirt senior forward would close the night with 14 points, going 6-for-13 from the field in the contest.

“I was really proud of the way (Natecia) played tonight. Even though she wasn’t 100-percent healthy, she did a great job of being aggressive and getting to the paint and that helped us tremendously,” said Carlsen.

The Huskies came out strong at the start of the third period, recording three-consecutive stops defensively, however, NIU was unable to put the ball in the basket as the Cougars got on the board first in the period.

SIUE continued to build its lead in the final half as the Huskies could not find their rhythm offensively. The Cougars outscored NIU in points off turnovers, 22-5, despite the Huskies only losing the turnover battle by four, 17-13.

While Lehman worked the basket offensively and defensively, she also played end to end as she blocked two shots in the game, rushing behind SIUE’s Coco Moore and Lauren White on layups to deny each player.

Lehman closed the 2014-15 season with a double-double versus Central Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, also finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

SIUE’s Sidney Smith was 5-for-7 off the bench behind the three-point line, hitting at least two of the shots from 25-feet out. Shronda Butts led all scorers with 17 points.

The Huskies will return home on Tuesday, hosting Wisconsin Lutheran at the NIU Convocation Center on ESPN3. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.