Final Stats

NIU 89, DU 73 

DeKALB - Sparked by Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret’s Anglican School) in the second quarter and 65-percent shooting in the third quarter, the NIU women’s basketball team (5-4) overcame a 15-point deficit in the second stanza against Drake (7-3) as the Huskies went on to lead by 17 and defeat the Bulldogs, 87-73. Five Huskies scored in double figures, led by Jazmine Harris’ (West allis, Wis./Heritage Christian) 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting.

It was the first time since Feb. 22, 2014 versus Central Michigan had five Huskies registered in double-figures. The comeback was NIU's largest since overcoming a 15-point deficit versus Akron on Feb. 7, 2015 to defeat the Zips, 62-56.

Kelly Smith (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and Woods all scored career-highs with 19, 15 and 14 points, respectively. The trio combined for 19 field goals in 42 attempts (.452) as NIU shot .468 in the game on a season-high 36 baskets with 22 assists in the effort. Ally Lehman (Nineveh, Ind./Indian Creek) registered her fifth double-double of the season, despite playing in foul trouble for most of the game, as she pulled down 11 boards and scored 10 points.

“Drake is a great basketball team and our kids did a great job of hanging in there when we got off to such a slow start,” said Head Coach Lisa Carlsen, “the game gets much simpler when you knock down shots. We were able to get a couple of stops and we grew from a confidence standpoint and things escalated from there.”

Drake got off to a fast start in the first quarter, building a 27-16 lead in the first 10 minutes and eventually a 15 point lead in the first two minutes of the second period.

Trailing 33-18, Woods sparked the Huskies strong finish to the first half as she nailed her first of two three-pointers in the half with 7:29 left, receiving a pass at the perimeter from Voigt in the paint. She hit her second just 36 seconds later on a swing pass from Georgia Breunig (Sauk Prairie, Wis./Sauk Prairie) and was the catalyst for NIU’s comeback.

With 22 seconds remaining in the opening half, Voigt hit a short-range jumper from the baseline to give the Huskies their first tie of the game, 39-39. DU would make one final layup lead by two at halftime, 41-39.

Woods closed the period with eight points as NIU outscored the Bulldogs in the period, 23-14, shooting 10-for-19 in the period after opening the game 6-for-18 in the first. Both Harris and Smith closed the opening half with 10 points to help Woods’ charge and chase the Bulldogs lead.

The Huskies were even stronger coming out of the locker room at halftime as they outscored the Bulldogs in the period, 28-12, including a 19-3 run in the final 6:47 of the period to lead 67-53.

In the final period, the Huskies did not acquiesce as they scored 20 more points in the period, giving them three straight periods with 20-or-more points in the game, the first time the Huskies accomplished the feat this season.

Harris finished strong in the game, scoring eight points in the final period to give her 20 points in 20 minutes of floor time. Smith’s 19 points were the most since recording 17 points in her collegiate debut versus Illinois State Nov. 14, 2014.

Voigt reached 15 points for the second time in the last six days and Woods surpassed her high of 13 points against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 24. NIU outrebounded Drake, 50-41, and won the turnover battle as well, 15-14.

NIU also improved to 2-0 against the Missouri Valley Conference this season and 3-0 at home in 2015-16. The Huskies are 12-4 in their last 16 games at home. The win by NIU was its first ever versus DU and are 1-4 versus the Bulldogs.

The Huskies will return to action Monday when they host Bradley at the NIU Convocation Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Central.