CHICAGO – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team used a fourth-quarter surge to pull away from Chicago State and post an 80-59 victory over the Cougars at Jones Convocation Center Monday night.
"We always expect Chicago State to play hard. That's always something that has been very consistent about them," said NIU head coach
Lisa Carlsen. "I thought we did a good job coming out of the locker room ready to play. We were able to turn them over a bit early with some pressing and trapping. I thought that was important for us to get off to a good start."
Senior
Kelly Smith led the charge with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Smith was one of three Huskies (3-1) to finish in double figures scoring as
Mikayla Voigt finished with 19, while
Ally May added 10. Voigt was one assist away from a double-double herself as the Huskie junior dished out a career-high nine assists.
NIU entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead as the two teams essentially traded baskets much of the third quarter. The Huskies opened up a 14-point lead when they went on a 7-2 run early in the fourth quarter. NIU went on a 10-2 run the final four minutes of the game to pull away from the Cougars (0-4).
The Huskies set the tone early, opening the game with an 8-0 run, eventually building a 15-point lead early in the second quarter. However, the Cougars battled back, going on a 7-0 run to cut the NIU lead to six points. That was the closest Chicago State would get.
NIU regained control and pushed the lead back to 10 on lay ups by Voigt and
Courtney Woods. The Huskies went into halftime with a 41-31 lead.
"It got sloppy in the middle a little bit, but the end was good," Carlsen said. "I thought we played a pretty good fourth quarter and that's important because we played a lot of kids."
NIU shot 50 percent from the field, while holding the Cougars to 39.7 percent. The Huskies also outrebounded the Cougars, 43-33, including 24 defensive rebounds. The NIU defense forced 24 Cougar turnovers and made a season-high 14 steals.
The Huskies are back in action Friday when they travel to San Antonio, Texas for the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. NIU opens the tournament with UTSA at 3 p.m. and conclude play in the event Saturday at 1 p.m. versus Lamar.
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