FARGO, N.D. – Northern Illinois University junior Gabby Nikitinaite tied the game with three seconds left and hit a layup to give NIU its first lead in overtime to give the Huskies to a 74-68 victory over North Dakota State Sunday at the Scheel Center in Fargo.
 
Courtney Woods led a group of four Huskies in double figures with a team-high 20 points, while Nikitinaite scored 18. Riley Blackwell added 13 and senior Abby Woollacott, starting in place of an injured Ally May, contributed 10 points and eight rebounds. 
 
"I think the experience of this group puts us in position to have success in these situations," said NIU head coach Lisa Carlsen. "Anytime you play on the road in the non-conference, you're hoping to get better and learn lessons.  We've been in situations in our two games where we've had to deal with adversity, deal with situations that are uncomfortable and I think those things are what help you as the season progresses."
 
NIU evened its record to 1-1 on the year, while the Bison fell to 0-2.
 
North Dakota State led by seven points, 62-55, with 4:38 to play in the fourth quarter before Blackwell converted an old-fashioned three-point play to pull NIU within four. After NDSU's Emily Dietz, who led all players with 21 points in the game, hit a jumper to put the Bison ahead by six with four minutes to play, NDSU would not score again in regulation.  Woods connected on two free throws and Myia Starks and Blackwell each made one of two to pull the Huskies within two at 64-62 with a minute left on the clock.
 
Starks missed a jumper with 12 seconds left and NIU was down by two, but NDSU's Raquel Terrer van Gool missed a pair of free throws, and Nikitinaite took advantage to send the game to overtime.
 
"I was really happy with the way Gabby went about her business today," Carlsen said. "There was never a time when she wasn't locked in and when she plays like that it makes us a much better basketball team. She did a great job not only offensively, but defensively, she made things difficult [for NDSU]."
 
Dietz put NDSU up again at the start of the extra period with a jumper before NIU took over. Woollacott hit a pair of jumpers sandwiched around a Nikitinaite layup to give the Huskies a 70-66 advantage. The Bison narrowed the margin to two on a pair of Dietz free throws at the 1:12 mark before Starks extended the lead back to four with 50 seconds to play.
 
NDSU went one-of-eight from the field, scored only four points and missed its last seven field goals in overtime while the Huskies made four of their last five field goal tries and grabbed eight rebounds in the extra frame.
 
"Abby's experience really put her in a position to help us and she got more and more comfortable as the game went on and did some great things down the stretch," Carlsen said. "We knew we had to force them to take a tough shot and more importantly, rebound the basketball and we were able to do that especially late."  
 
NIU finished the game with a 41 percent shooting percentage and went 10-of-19 in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Huskies overcame 19 turnovers, but forced NDSU into 23 with 13 steals, four by Nikitinaite.
 
The Bison led by four points after the first, second and third quarters.  They led by as many as eight in the first period as they took advantage of seven early turnovers by NIU, before the Huskies came back late in the quarter to cut the lead to four, 21-17.
 
The lead held up through the next two quarters.  Each team put up 10 points in the second quarter.  The Huskies tied the score at 27 with 1:02 to play in the half on a pair of Woods free throws but a pair of jumpers by Dietz in the final minute gave the Bison a 31-27 lead heading into the locker room. 
 
NIU shot 31 percent from the floor in the half and were two-of-nine on three-pointers, while NDSU was at 38 percent for the half and 20 percent on threes. 
 
The Bison led 47-43 after the third quarter, again extending the lead to as many as nine at 45-36 at the 4:13 mark before the Huskies narrowed the margin on a Woods three with 1:12 left in the third.
 
A three by Nikitinaite brought NIU within one at the 8:17 mark of the fourth quarter and Blackwell hit a three to tie the score at 51 with 7:07 on the clock.  NDSU once again pulled ahead with an 11-4 run over the next 2:29 to give the Bison a 62-55 lead.  
 
The Huskies' November road trip continues next Sunday when NIU travels to Colorado Springs, Colo. to take on Colorado State. NIU's next home game is December 19 in the Compass Challenge versus Eastern lllinois.
 
Both season and individual game tickets are on sale for all NIU 2019-20 home games at NIUHuskies.com. Season tickets start at just $35 while the Huskie Flex Pass offers five tickets or more, available on mobile devices, which can be used in any combination for any home game for just $5 each.
 
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