AMES, Iowa -- Four Huskies scored in double figures, led by 12 points from senior Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran), but the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team fell just short in its comeback attempt on Sunday afternoon, falling to Iowa State, 70-60, in the quarterfinals of the Preseason WNIT at Hilton Coliseum. 

The Cyclones led by as much as 18 in the second half but the Huskies trimmed that lead down to eight midway through the fourth quarter. Senior Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's Anglican School) finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, sophomores Errin Hodges (Evansville, Ind./Central) and Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, United Kingdom/Coopers School) also scored 10 points for the Huskies. 

"In order for us to have a shot today, we needed to shoot the ball better," said NIU head coach Lisa Carlsen. "I thought we did some decent things on the defensive end, we did an okay job on the glass, but again, in order for us to have a chance against a team like Iowa State we needed to shoot the ball a lot better than we did.

"I thought, for the most part, the right people were taking the right shots, we just have to be more efficient."

NIU (1-1) shot just 30.8 percent (24-of-78) from the field in the contest while Iowa State shot 46.2 percent (30-of-65). 

Iowa State (2-0) scored the first six before Woods got the Huskie offense started. Buckets from sophomore Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) and Woods kept the Huskies within four, 10-6, in the opening five minutes until the Cyclones used a 10-0 run to push their lead to 14. 

A pair of free throws from Hodges sparked a 9-4 burst for the Huskies to close the opening quarter. Hodges added a trifecta and Nikitinaite made a pair of baskets as NIU trimmed the Iowa State lead to 24-15 at the end of the first.

Blackwell knocked down a triple to open the second quarter, cutting the Iowa State lead to a half-dozen, 24-18. But Iowa State answered with the next nine to push its lead to 33-18 with 6:24 left before the break. Blackwell finished with seven points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes. 

Back-to-back triples from Voigt and sophomore Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) helped NIU cut the Iowa State lead to a dozen, 41-29, at the half. Bridget Carleton and Kristin Scott each scored 11 points for Iowa State to lead all scorers at the break, Hodges led NIU with eight. 

NIU scored six of the first eight out of the intermission to cut the Iowa State lead to just eight, 43-35, with 6:50 to play in the third quarter, but the Cyclones answered with 10 of the next 12 as the advantage ballooned back to 16. 

Iowa State still led by 16 at the end of the third, 61-45, but the Huskies cut the lead down to just 10 with 6:22 left. Voigt opened the quarter with a triple and, after a basket by the Cyclones, Nikitinaite knocked down a three and forced a turnover that led to a layup for Hodges as the Iowa State lead was trimmed to just 63-53. Hodges finished just one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. 

After another Iowa State turnover, Poisson fed Voigt with a great bounce-pass for a layup as the Huskies were within eight with just over five minutes to play. The Cyclones responded with the next seven however as they held off the late Huskie charge and earned a trip to the Preseason WNIT Semifinals. 

Carleton finished with a game-high 21 points to lead Iowa State, Scott added 15 points and Madison Wise was the third Cyclone in double figures with 10. 

NIU will return to action next weekend in the consolation round of the Preseason WNIT. The date, opponent, location and time of NIU's next game will be announced soon.