DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team rode a 23-point third quarter to a 59-55 win over the University of St. Francis Fighting Saints Saturday at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
"I thought they challenged us on both ends of the floor," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following Saturday's game. "They were really able to slow us down and execute their gameplan, and I think that's what you want from an exhibition game. They challenged us in some areas and it'll be a good film to break down and good for our team to watch in preparation for Thursday night."
 
Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) led the Huskies with 19 points, going 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's) added 12 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) led NIU with nine rebounds and four assists.
 
After a slow start offensively, NIU used an 8-0 run highlighted by a pair of Myia Starks (Oswego, Ill./Nequa Valley) baskets to take an 8-2 lead with 3:16 to play in the first quarter. St. Francis cut the Huskies lead to one, 8-7, with five straight points in just 12 seconds. NIU got the lead back up to five with 1:42 to play in the first as a pair of Errin Hodges (Evansville, Ind./Central) and another Starks jumper made the score 12-7. Madi Canady made a three-pointer in the final 32 seconds to make the score 12-10 heading into the second quarter.
 
After St. Francis tied the score at 12 early in the second, a Voigt three-pointer kickstarted an 8-2 NIU run over 1:38 to give the Huskies a 20-14 lead with 4:57 remaining until halftime. The Fighting Saints erased that deficit as an Ivana Markovic triple made the score 20-20 with under two minutes to play in the quarter. The Huskies took a 22-20 lead into the intermission on a pair of Woods foul shots with five seconds left in the half.
 
The two teams traded baskets to start the third quarter, with a Kaitlyn Aylward layup tying the score at 31. NIU then rattled off six straight points as a pair of Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) baskets put the Huskies ahead 37-31 with 2:26 left in the third. St. Francis was able to get as close as two with 1:32 to go, but NIU had one more run in them in the quarter. The Huskies scored the final eight points of the third at the free throw line to take their largest lead of the game, 45-36.
 
 "I felt very confident towards the end of the game," said Poisson, who scored all six of her points in the third quarter. "A little bit of rust came off today.
 
St. Francis opened the fourth quarter on a 9-1 run as an Aylward three got the Fighting Saints within one, 46-45, with 7:46 to go. Voigt put NIU back up by four, 49-45, with a three-pointer at the 7:29 mark. St. Francis then scored the next seven points over 3:48 with back-to-back layups by Canady and Aylward giving the Fighting Saints their second lead of the game, 51-49, with 3:41 to play. NIU got a pair of threes from Voigt and Woods to start an 8-0 run that put the Huskies back in front, 57-51, with 1:24 to go. St. Francis got as close as two late, but a pair of Voigt free throws in the final 13 seconds gave NIU the 59-55 win.
 
"There are great things we can learn from today," Carlsen said. "The only thing I would have liked is if there were a little bit more of a gap to maybe get a few more kids a few more minutes. At the end of the day, we can learn situationally from a lot of things that happened today. With the way our schedule is, the likelihood of us having close games every time out is very real."
 
The Huskies shot just 29.8% from the field, but made up for that by making 21 of 22 free throws. NIU outrebounded St. Francis 39-36 and forced 18 turnovers while committing 15.
 
NIU opens the 2018-19 season on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center against Yale in the Preseason WNIT. Tickets for the season opener are on sale at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.
 
--NIU--