CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team posted a 93-64 victory over Eastern Illinois in its season opener at Lantz Arena Friday night.
"Overall, a lot of kids did a lot of good things," said NIU head coach
Lisa Carlsen. "I liked that we were able to play with the rotation that we did."
Four Huskies (1-0) finished in double figures with
Kelly Smith leading the way. The NIU senior, who opened the game going 6-for-6 from the floor, finished the night with a career-high 26 points. Smith went 11-for-15 from the field, dished out four assists and blocked two shots.
"I think she played like you'd expect a senior to play," Carlsen said of Smith. "She did a lot of things well. Really battled in the bottom half of the lane. She was efficient as far as scoring the basketball, did a nice job on the glass and stayed out of foul trouble. That's huge for Kelly. Anytime we can keep her on the floor for extended minutes, we're going to be a lot better basketball team. That's a great way for her to start off her senior year."
Mikayla Voigt and
Janae Poisson each contributed 14 points, while
Courtney Woods finished the game with 13. Twelve of Voigt's total came from behind the three-point line as the Huskie junior was a torrid 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Poisson led a Huskie bench that outscored the Panthers' reserves, 33-15.
NIU's offense was clicking, hitting 53.8 percent from the floor, including 42.9 from three-point territory. The Huskies defense was solid, holding the Panthers to 34.3 percent shooting from the field. NIU also outrebounded the Panthers, 49-33, including 37 defensive rebounds and blocking six shots.
Ally May finished with a game-high 11 rebounds. NIU
"Anytime we can outrebound a team, that's going to be good," Carlsen said. "We're not always going to be the biggest team on the floor. I thought we were pretty solid defensively. A few breakdowns here of there that will be great to go back and watch on film and try and correct."
The Huskies cut down on their miscues in the second half as well. After committing 13 first half turnovers, NIU turned the ball over just three times in the final frame.
After opening up a 21-16 lead in the first quarter, the Huskies took 42-26 advantage into halftime with Smith pacing NIU with 13 points.
Eastern Illinois battled back in the third quarter on the strength of its three-point shooting. With NIU leading 53-32, Halle Stull hit three-straight three points, while Grace Lennox added a fourth to cut the NIU lead to 59-44. However, that would be as close as the Panthers would get. A 7-1 run by NIU pushed the lead back up to 21.
The Huskies return to the floor Wed., Nov. 15 when NIU travels to Iowa to face the Hawkeyes. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT
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