KENT, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team saw it's five-game winning streak snapped at the M.A.C. Center Wednesday night after an 87-78 loss to the Kent State Golden Flashes.
"We just were not locked in consistenly enough on the defensive end," said head coach
Lisa Carlsen. "We pride ourselves on taking care of the basketball, and we were soft with the ball tonight. Kent State played a great game. They were the more physical team, the more aggressive team. We can't turn the ball over 22 times on the road and expect to win."
Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) led the Huskies with 26 points, adding five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) had 18 points, going 4-for-7 from the three-point arc, with five assists.
NIU (9-5, 1-1 MAC) used a 7-2 run, sparked by a Nikitinaite three, to take an 11-9 lead with 5:41 to play in the opening quarter. Kent State responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Lindsey Thall to go up 15-11 with 4:52 remaining in the first. The Golden Flashes grew their lead to five at the 1:11 mark when a Hannah Young free throw capped a 7-2 run that made the score 22-17.
The Huskies rallied back with a 14-4 run over the next 6:17. Three-pointers by Voigt and
Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) highlighted that stretch as NIU took a 31-26 lead with 4:54 remaining in the second quarter. The NIU advantage grew to seven at the 2:36 mark when a pair of
Abby Woollacott (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) layups put the Huskies up 37-30. NIU led 41-34 when Kent State closed the half with three straight triples in the final minute, including a banked-in buzzer beater by Ali Poole, to take a 43-41 halftime lead.
Just as in the first quarter, Kent State (9-4, 2-0 MAC) and NIU traded baskets to start the third with a
Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) jumper tying the game at 49 with 5:51 remaining. After a pair of Thall free throws put the Golden Flashes up 51-49, Nikitinaite and Voigt made three straight threes to give NIU a 58-53 lead with 3:56 remaining in the quarter. NIU held Kent State without a field goal for the final 3:33 of the quarter to take a 62-59 lead into the fourth.
Poole scored the first four points of the final quarter for Kent State, giving the Golden Flashes a 63-62 lead. Nikitinaite had the first seven points for NIU with a pair of foul shots to give NIU a 69-67 edge with 6:59 to play. Alexa Golden came back with a three for Kent State, sparking a 9-0 run to give the Golden Flashes a 76-69 lead with 3:39 to play. The Huskies only got as close as six points the rest of the way, shooting just 22.2 percent from the field in the final period.
NIU shot 44.4 percent from the field, but committed 22 turnovers. Kent State shot 43 percent both from the field and the three-point line. Each team pulled down 37 rebounds. Poole led all scorers with 28 points as Thall and Asiah Dingle each added 17.
NIU returns to the Convocation Center on Saturday, January 12, to host Central Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday's game is Pup Club Day, and the Huskies will also celebrate Victor E. Huskie's birthday. Federal employees can show their government ID at the NIU Convocation Center box office Saturday for two complimentary tickets to Saturday's doubleheader. Tickets are available from the NIU Convocation Center Box Office by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) or by logging on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets.
--NIU--
