BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball led the Indiana Hoosiers 42-41 at halftime Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, but could not stop a furious third-quarter rally from Indiana in a 91-73 loss.
 
Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) led four Huskies in double-figure scoring with 15 points. Myia Starks (Oswego, Ill./Nequa Valley) and Errin Hodges (Evansville, Ind./Central) each had 11 points with Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia) adding 10. Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) led all players with 12 rebounds and scored eight points.
 
"Our scoring balance is always going to be key for us," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "We feel like if we're going to be a good team, we're going to have to share the basketball and have different people step up each night. To have four in double-figures with other people contributing is a good sign for us."
 
Indiana (5-0) opened the game on a 9-0 run capped off by a Bendu Yeaney three-pointer at the 6:01 mark. The Huskies got on the board with a pair of Voigt free throws with 5:45 remaining, with a Hodges three-pointer at the 5:07 mark getting NIU within six 13-7. Starks' layup with under two minutes to go in the quarter sparked a 10-4 NIU run to end the period. Voigt scored the final eight points, making a pair of threes for NIU to make the score 18-17 after one.
 
NIU (2-2) took its first lead of the game with 9:36 to play in the second quarter as Ninni Salmi (Kauhajoki, Finland/Mäkelänrinne Sports/San Francisco) made her first career three-pointer as a Huskie to make the score 20-18. The Hoosiers then ran off seven straight points, with back-to-back layups from Yeaney and Jaelynn Penn putting Indiana back in front 25-20 with 8:13 to play until halftime. Three-pointers from Voigt and Woods tied the game at 28 at the 5:49 mark, but Indiana scored 14 of the next 18 points to take a 40-32 lead with 2:14 left until halftime. NIU closed the half on a 9-0 run, as free throws from Woods and Starks and a Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) three gave the Huskies a 42-41 halftime advantage. The Huskies held the Hoosiers without a field goal for the final 3:51 of the first half.
 
"We can look at that stretch and look at some key possessions where we made some big shots," said Carlsen. "I thought, defensively, our rotations were a lot better in the first half.
 
Woods put NIU up by four, 45-41, early in the third quarter with a three-pointer. NIU led 49-46 with 7:34 to play in the third when a pair of Ali Patberg foul shots sparked an 8-2 Indiana run that put the Hoosiers in front 53-49. The Huskies got as close as two, but the Hoosiers capped the quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 70-56 lead. Indiana led by as much as 23 in the fourth quarter to come away with the 91-73 win.
 
"They really handled us on the glass and in the paint in the second half," Carlsen said. "We didn't do as good of a job keeping them away from the rim and they were able to exploit that with their physicality."
 
NIU shot 36.2 percent for the game and made 10 of 23 three-pointers. The Hoosiers shot 50 percent from the field and made 20 of their 25 free throws. Indiana also held a 52-29 rebounding edge. Patberg led Indiana with 19 points and five assists. Yeaney added 17 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Huskies return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 28 when NIU hosts North Dakota State at 11 a.m. at the NIU Convocation Center for Education Day.
 
--NIU--