Final Stats

BGSU 58, NIU 43 

DeKALB - The NIU women's basketball team (8-9, 1-5 MAC) dug itself a hole in the first half and fought to come out of it the second half outscoring Bowling Green (6-9, 2-5 MAC) in the second half, 29-24, as it caused eight Falcon turnovers but the Huskies would fall, 59-43.

Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) tied her career-high for the third time this season with 15 points, going 5-of-9 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 behind the three-point line. Senior Lacia Gorman (Fort Wayne, Ind./Wayne/Wisconsin) added eight points and six rebounds while Ally Lehman (Nineveh, Ind.Indian Creek) pulled down eight rebounds and dished a game-high five assists.

"It was a struggle in every facet of the game. We didn't take a lot away from them, I thought they did a nice job especially early of getting what they wanted on the offensive end and we had a hard time of sticking the ball in the basket and we didn't rebound the ball well and that's a big thing for us. If we don't rebound, it's tough for us to get things going so it was one of those nights where not much went right," said Head Coach Lisa Carlsen.

Gorman and Voigt started things off for NIU as the duo combined for 11 points, led by Gorman's 3-for-4 shooting from the field as the Huskies trailed the Falcons through one, 13-11.

Voigt put Northern Illinois University back on top in the first possession of the second quarter, draining her second three of the game six seconds into the period as it led, 14-13. Bowling Green would reclaim the lead on the next possession and enter the intermission with a 34-14 lead.

BGSU finished the first half with a .438 field goal percentage, going 14-for-32 from the field.

The NIU defense stepped up in the third quarter, limiting the Falcons to just nine points in the period, the eighth time NIU held a team under 10 points in a quarter. The Huskies made their charge in the fourth, cutting their deficit to 14 points as they scored 20 in the period.

Amber Gray (Mukwanago, Wis./Mukwanago) led NIU offensively in the third period as she scored four points in the quarter.

Voigt emerged as NIU's offensive weapon in the final frame, scoring seven points in the fourth period. Defensively, NIU caused nine turnovers in the second half but was only able to convert six points on those chances.

Northern Illinois University will return to action Saturday, Jan. 23 when it hosts reigning Mid-American Conference Champion Ohio. The Huskies and Bobcats will tip at 1 p.m. Central at the NIU Convocation Center. The game will air live on ESPN3.