DeKALB - With a well-rounded scoring performance - four players in double figures and nine different scorers - and the ability to control the pace of play, the NIU women's basketball team (8-4, 1-0 MAC) won its fourth-straight Mid-American Conference opener Saturday afternoon, defeating Eastern Michigan (5-8, 0-1 MAC) at the Convocation Center, 85-73. Kelly Smith led all Huskies with a season-best 19 points while Ally Lehman notched her eighth double-double of the season with 11 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

No senior class at NIU has won four-straight senior openers since the class of 1994, led by NIU Athletics Hall of Famer E.C. Hill.

After trailing early and swapping leads in the first period, the Huskies led the Eagles for the final 36:28 of the contest as Lehman attacked the paint and rallied her team in motion. Northern Illinois finished the first quarter with an 18-15 lead as it found success late in the frame in the transition from defense to offense.

The Huskies were unfazed by Eastern Michigan's game plan of slowing down the pace of play, capitalizing on all of its fast break opportunities to outscore the Eagles in the half, 13-0, including nine points in the first quarter. Mikayla Voigt finished three of NIU's baskets on the break, closing the half with nine points. Smith and Courtney Woods each led the Huskies with 10 points.

"Anytime you open conference play and you open up at home, you have to take care of things at home. I thought both teams were a little sluggish in the first quarter, trying to figure each other out and what was going to work and what wasn't but I think we did a nice job of creating some turnovers because we were aggressive defensively in the second quarter," said Head Coach Lisa Carlsen. "That created some offense for us and got us jumpstarted for the rest of the game."

Northern Illinois University finished the first half with a 15-point lead, 41-26, outscoring Eastern Michigan in the paint, 23-8, and off of turnovers, 15-3. EMU senior Phyllis Webb, who finished the night with 30 points and 14 rebounds, scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes of action.

Less than 40 seconds into the third period, Smith drained two layups to force an Eastern Michigan timeout, which rallied the Huskies to its biggest lead of the night - 23 points - with 6:45 remaining in the third, 53-30. NIU maintained the comfortable lead for most of the third as it closed the stanza with a 65-46 edge.

With the entire dressed roster appearing in the contest, nine different Huskies scored in the game, led by Janae Poisson and Renee Sladek who each scored six points. Freshman Myia Starks went a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line as she tied her season scoring best with four points.

Though Eastern Michigan rallied to close the gap down to single-digits with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter, 81-73, the effort was too late as NIU had already placed four in double figures - Lehman (11), Smith (19), Voigt (16) and Woods (15) - as NIU reclaimed the 10-point edge with Abby Woollacott hitting her first of two free throws at the charity stripe.

Though Smith led NIU offensively, she continued to show her stalwart shot blocking defense in the game as she stopped two shots, increasing her total to eight blocks in the last three games.

Northern Illinois University will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 when it takes on Bowling Green at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. Central. The game will air live on ESPN3.