Women's Basketball | November 15

Box Score IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team (1-1) fell to Iowa (4-0) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Wednesday night, 105-80.
 
"I think that we came out ready to play," said NIU head coach Lisa Carlsen. "We did, in the first half, what we needed to do to try and stay in the game. I give Iowa credit. They shot the ball extremely well tonight, both from the perimeter as well as points from the paint. We knew we would have a tough time matching up.
 
"We were outmatched tonight, obviously, from the size standpoint. I don't know that we'll see a team as big as Iowa the rest of the year. Hopefully, we can learn to adjust and continue to grow from this."
 
The Huskies came out strong with junior Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's Angelican School) leading the Huskies with seven baskets in the first quarter, tallying four field goals and three three-point shots. Woods led the team with 20 points on the game along with seven rebounds and an assist. Sophomore Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marion Catholic) followed Woods' lead with 18 points scored off the bench.
 
"Early, they were scoring the basketball with a lot of confidence," said Carlsen of Woods and Poisson. "Both of them had a scorer's mentality. They got off to good starts, and anytime a shooter gets off to a good start, they're in for a good night."
 
Freshman Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) put up seven field goals for 11 points, while senior Kelly Smith (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) added nine points. Nikitinaite went three-for-three in the second quarter from the three-point line.
 
The Huskies' three-point game was strong with 14 made over Iowa's six, but were dominated on the free-throw line as the Hawkeyes went 15-for-15 to NIU's two-for three. Freshman Errin Hodges (Evansville, Ind./Central) took all three shots at the line for NIU.
 
"We were getting the shots that we wanted to get and people just need to knock them down. We have a lot of confident shooters on the floor for us, and I saw a little bit of doubt in their eyes. That's not something I see very often, so we had to refocus. The more disappointing part was we were giving Iowa too easy of shots. They got a couple of transition buckets, where just didn't get back and make them play.
 
Redshirt sophomore Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), junior Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) and sophomore Myia Starks (Oswego, Ill./Neuqua Valley) put points on the board for the Huskies. Voigt led the team in assists with five as May tallied the most rebounds with eight for the day.
 
NIU hosts Western Illinois University Sat., Nov. 18 in its home opener. The Huskies' tip-off is set for 1 p.m. CST.
 
-NIU-