CARBONDALE, Ill. – Senior guard Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) set two Northern Illinois University women's basketball single-game records Saturday in the Huskies' 86-61 win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks at SIU Arena in the Compass Challenge.
 
Voigt became the first NIU, and Mid-American Conference, women's basketball player to score 50 points in a game Saturday, scoring 52. She finished the game 19-for-25 from the field, 11-for-15 from the three-point line, and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line. Her 11 three-pointers broke the previous NIU single-game record of nine set by Alexis Lindstrom against Eastern Michigan on March 10, 2014. It is also one shy of tying the NCAA Division I single-game record, as well as a new MAC record.
 
Her 19 field goals made tied the NIU single-game record set by Charmonique Stallworth in 1996. Voigt also had a career-high 11 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. Her 52 points is the third-highest scoring game in Division I this season, and doubled her previous career-high of 26 points.
 
"I've really got to credit my teammates because they got me the ball when I was open," said Voigt following her record-breaking performance Saturday. "Great passes make it easier to shoot and the bucket just looked really big today. We just took what the Western defense was giving us."
 
"All credit to Mikayla today," added head coach Lisa Carlsen. "She put herself in a position to make open shots and was unbelievable. Credit to her teammates as well for finding her and putting her in a position to succeed."
 
NIU (5-4) got off to a fast start, taking a 12-2 lead at the 4:17 mark with Voigt scoring eight points. Western Illinois cut the deficit to five, 12-7, with 3:36 to play in the first before the Huskies closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 19-9 lead. Voigt finished the quarter with 11 points. The Leathernecks closed the gap to five, 24-19, with 5:28 to play in the second quarter on a jumper by Taylor Higginbotham. NIU outscored Western Illinois 16-5 the rest of the way to take a 40-24 halftime lead. Voigt scored 11 of the 16 points in that stretch to give her 25 points at the break.
 
The senior scored NIU's first 15 points of the third quarter, making four three-pointers. Voigt's four-point play at the 5:19 mark gave her 40 points in the game and the Huskies a 55-31 lead with 5:19 to go in the quarter. The Leathernecks cut the NIU lead to 11, 63-52, heading into the fourth quarter. The Huskies opened the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run that included Voigt's 10^th and 11^th threes of the game, taking a 73-52 lead with 7:01 to play. Voigt's next basket at the 5:52 mark gave her 50 points in the game, and scored her last two points on a jumper with 3:52 to play.
 
The Huskies shot 45.2 percent from the field and made a season-high 14 three-pointers in the win. NIU also outrebounded Western Illinois 58-37, scoring 17 second-chance points off of 14 offensive rebounds. Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK) scored 15 points with seven rebounds and tied a career-high with nine assists.
 
"This gives us a lot of momentum," said Voigt. "It gives us a little confidence that there is hope in this season. There was a question of what we were going to look like without Courtney [Woods], who is a big part of this team and she still is. She's doing a great job on the bench and communicating with us on what she's seeing. People are going to have to step up and fill roles, and Gabby did this weekend."
 
NIU is back at the Convocation Center on Monday, Dec. 17 to take on Eastern Illinois at 5:30 p.m. The game is part of a doubleheader with the NIU men's basketball team, who hosts Western Illinois that night at 8 p.m.

--NIU--