DeKALB - With five players in double figures for the sixth time in the first nine games, paced by Cassidy Glenn's career-high 24 points and Courtney Woods' 21 points, the well-balanced NIU women's basketball team (6-3) defeated Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (3-7) on Friday night, 97-78. It was the fifth time the Huskies scored 90-or-more points in a game, the first time since the 1994-95 season the program achieved the mark.

Ally Lehman (Nineveh, Ind./Indian Creek), Kelly Smith (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) also scored 10-or-more alongside Glenn (New Lenox, Ill./Presbyterian) and Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's Anglican School), paced by Lehman's sixth double-double with 19 points and 10 assists. Smith and Voigt added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

While Lehman led the team in assists, eight of the 11 Huskies that played registered dimes as NIU accounted for 18 total helpers, their sixth game with at least 15 assists this season.

"I thought we did a nice job out of the locker room of shooting the ball well in the first quarter and you have to give SIUE a lot of credit because they did a lot of different things to try and slow us down," said Head Coach Lisa Carlsen. "There were a couple of spurts where we weren't sharp but I think that when we go back and look at the film, we'll be happy with a lot of our possessions."

It didn't take NIU long to find its offensive rhythm as it scored 24 points in the opening quarter and 26 more in the second to account for 50 points to the Cougars 41.

SIUE established its play in the post early, scoring 14 of its 50 points in the paint in the opening 10 minutes of the game. After trading baskets in the first, 10-9, NIU opened up its scoring in the second quarter as it appeared to enter the halftime locker room with a 50-38 lead, however, a shot at the buzzer by Nakiah Bell from roughly 35 feet out cut the Huskies lead to nine, 50-41.

Glenn finished with 17 points, tying her career-high for points in a half, going 7-of-10 from the field to lead all scorers in the first 20 minutes of play. Both Lehman and Woods scored in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Continuing the balanced scoring effort in the second half, the Huskies put five players in double figures prior to the final media timeout of the game at 4:46.

Neither NIU or SIUE exceeded 20 points in the third quarter as the teams combined for 13 turnovers in the period and seven field goals apiece. The Huskies did most of their damage offensively in the final period as it scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, including a perfect 13-for-13 clip from the free throw line, to finish the game with a 97-78 edge.

The victory by the Huskies gave Carlsen her first win over SIUE's Head Coach Paula Buscher at NIU, whom Carlsen with at Omaha from 1998-2000

Northern Illinois University will play a pair of matches prior to the holidays as it heads to Kansas City, Mo., for the Roo Holiday Classic, hosted by UMKC. The Huskies will open the tournament Monday versus reigning WNIT Champion South Dakota and close play Tuesday against the host Kangaroos on Tuesday.