LAS VEGAS, NV – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team could not keep up with the hot shooting of the South Dakota Coyotes in a 91-48 loss Saturday afternoon in the South Point Shootout at South Point Arena.
 
The Coyotes made 17 three-pointers in the game and shot 58.6 percent from the three-point arc. South Dakota shot 51.5 percent from the field, which included a 75 percent quarter in the second. The Coyotes outrebounded NIU 37-26 and scored 21 points off 16 Huskies turnovers.
 
"There are not a lot of teams in the country that are going to have much success against South Dakota when they shoot the ball that well," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "We didn't necessarily defend the arc the way we had talked about having to do in order to give ourselves a chance. They're a lot to handle. They're physical and they do a great job of helping each other in their defensive system."
 
Freshman guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led the game in scoring with a season-high 17 points, besting the 14 she had in Friday's win over Tennessee Tech. Koker was 6-for-12 from the field and 5-for-8 from the three-point line. In two games in the South Point Shootout, Koker averaged 15.5 points per game and shot over 46 percent from the three-point line. Sophomore forward Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) scored a career-high nine points on three three-pointers.
 
"Chelby is fearless," Carlsen said. "She's someone who is aggressive on the offensive end. She did some really nice things over these last two games."
 
South Dakota (7-1) came out firing, jumping out to a 17-2 lead in the first 4:15 with Chloe Lamb, Ciara Duffy, and Madison McKeever combining to make four three-pointers. NIU closed the gap to nine, 19-10, with an 8-2 run over 1:55 that included two Koker threes and an Abby Woollacott (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) layup. The Huskies defense held the Coyotes to 1-for-9 shooting from the field in the final five minutes of the quarter but trailed 21-10 after one. South Dakota shot 75 percent from the field in the second quarter, making seven of eight three-point attempts to take a 52-23 halftime lead.
 
NIU's (3-4) best offensive quarter came in the fourth when the Huskies shot 53.8 percent from the field and scored 18 points. Brandon made two of her three triples in the final period as the Huskies were 3-for-4 from long distance. Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) also added a three-point play in the fourth quarter with 3:01 to go.
 
The Huskies wrap up their seven-game road trip on Thursday, December 5 at Milwaukee. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
 
--NIU--