LAS VEGAS, NV – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team shot 53.8 percent in the second half Friday afternoon to break a 34-34 halftime tie and defeat the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 82-74 in the South Point Shootout at South Point Arena.
 
"There were moments on both ends of the court where we did some really nice things," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following the win. "When it came down to it, we got stops and rebounded the basketball. We shot the ball well, but we need to be consistent with that and continue to learn and grow."
 
Five Huskies scored in double-figures led by Courtney Woods' (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's) 23 points. Woods made four threes and added six rebounds and three assists. She now has 274 career three-pointers to put her four away from tying the NIU career three-pointers record held by Kylie York, who made 278 from 2006 to 2010.
 
Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) and Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) both had 14 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) also had 14 points, a season-high, and added three steals. Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) scored 10 points with five rebounds and three assists.
 
Tennessee Tech (3-3) opened the game with an 8-0 run with three-pointers from Jordan Brock and Mackenzie Coleman. NIU responded with threes from Blackwell and Woods to start a 12-3 run over 4:31 seconds, with a Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) layup giving the Huskies their first lead at 12-11 with 3:29 left in the first quarter. Koker then scored NIU's next seven points, putting NIU ahead 19-18 with 2:09 to go. The Golden Eagles took a 21-19 lead with a Kesha Brady three-pointer with 0:58 left in the first, but NIU tied the game at 21 with a Blackwell layup in the final seconds.
 
NIU's (3-3) defense came alive in the second quarter, holding Tennessee Tech without a field goal for the first 7:11. The Huskies opened the period with an 11-2 run over the first 4:35, capped by an Abby Woollacott (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) layup that put NIU up 32-23. The Golden Eagles made three three-pointers over 1:28 seconds late in the quarter to take a 34-32 lead. Just as in the first quarter, Blackwell came up with a layup in the final 10 seconds to tie the game at 34 heading into halftime.
 
Nikitinaite and Woods combined to score the first six points of the third quarter to put NIU ahead 40-34 with 8:10 to play. The Golden Eagles used a 7-0 run, capped by a Jordan Brock three-pointer, to take a 43-42 lead at the 4:47 mark. NIU answered that with back-to-back triples from Woods and Brandon to go up by five, 48-43, with under four minutes to play in the third. Tennessee Tech had another run in them, going on an 8-0 run sparked by an Akia Harris three to go up 51-48 with 1:43 left in the quarter. Koker scored the final four points of the frame, putting in a layup before the buzzer to put NIU ahead 52-51 heading into the fourth.
 
NIU rode the momentum from the end of the third quarter into the fourth, scoring the first seven points to take a 59-51 lead at the 8:47 mark to force a Tennessee Tech timeout. The Golden Eagles cut the Huskies lead to three, but back-to-back Woods threes capped a 10-4 NIU run that gave NIU a nine-point advantage, 69-60, with 6:08 to play. The Golden Eagles chipped away at the Huskies lead and eventually got within three, 75-72, on an Anacia Wilkinson jumper with 0:59 left in the game. That was as close as the Golden Eagles got. NIU made seven of its last 10 free throws in the final minute to come away with the 82-74 win.
 
"This team is never going to be a team that panics," Carlsen said. "They know how to handle close games and end-of-game situations. They know they have to step up to the line in the end of games and knock down free throws. They definitely have a next-play mentality and I thought we did a good job down the stretch of understanding that."
 
NIU shot 44.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from long distance. After shooting 42 percent in the first quarter, Tennessee Tech shot 34.2 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles held a slim 39-38 rebounding edge while NIU outscored Tennessee Tech in the paint 34-28. Brady led Tennessee Tech with 24 points.
 
The Huskies take on South Dakota on Saturday at 3:15 pm central in their final game of the South Point Shootout.
 
--NIU--