DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team held the Bowling Green Falcons to 23 points in the final three quarters Wednesday night, running away with an 88-47 win at the NIU Convocation Center. This is the first time the Huskies have swept a home-and-home series against Bowling Green since the 2002-03 season.
"Everybody who stepped on the floor did their job, and that's what we need to have happen on a night-to-night basis," said head coach
Lisa Carlsen. "Bowling Green was going to try and keep the ball out of Mikayla's [Voigt] hands and wasn't going to let Gabby [Nikitinaite] get going. Myia [Starks] found herself in a position to get to her pull-up.
Riley Blackwell did a great job of knocking down a couple shots, especially early from the perimeter."
NIU (13-8, 5-4 MAC) held Bowling Green to 29 percent from the field Wednesday night, the lowest an opponent has shot against the Huskies this season. After allowing the Falcons to shoot 56.4 percent in the first quarter, NIU held them to 19.6 percent in the final 30 minutes. The Huskies made 11 three-pointers in the win, the most NIU has had in a game since making 14 against Western Illinois on Dec. 8.
Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) led all scorers with 21 points and seven assists.
Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) made four three-pointers on her way to 16 points. Voigt scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half.
Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, with a career-high four three-pointers, to score 14 points. She also had seven rebounds.
Abby Woollacott (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) had a season-high 11 points and 10 rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) led all players with 12 rebounds, her sixth straight game with at least 10 boards.
Bowling Green (7-13, 0-9 MAC) used a 13-0 run in the first quarter to take a 16-5 lead. The Falcons made five three-pointers in the opening quarter with Morgan McMillen going 4-for-4 from distance. NIU held the Falcons without a field goal for the last 2:30 of the first quarter, getting within eight at 24-16. Down 28-18, NIU went on an 8-0 run highlighted by threes from Blackwell and
Errin Hodges (Evansville, Ind./Central) to get within two, 28-26, with 5:55 to play in the half. The run extended into a 16-2 run as a pair of Woollacott layups put NIU ahead 34-30 at halftime. The Huskies held Bowling Green to 3-for-14 from the field in the second quarter and just six points.
"After a little bit of a slow start, things changed from an intensity standpoint on the defensive end when we brought
Errin Hodges in the game," Carlsen said. "That really changed the complexity of the game. She came in and did a great job of being active on the defensive end, allowing us to be more comfortable on the offensive end. From that point, we did a good job of executing the game plan going forward."
The Falcons got within two with 5:54 to play in the third quarter when a McMillen triple made the score 40-38. NIU then scored the next 18 points over 4:43, as threes by Voigt, Blackwell, and
Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) put the Huskies up by 20 58-38. The Huskies held Bowling Green without a field goal for the first 5:16 of the fourth quarter to build a 79-42 lead. NIU shot 63.2 percent from the field in the final quarter and held the Falcons to 15.4 percent, outscoring Bowling Green 30-7.
NIU shot 46.1 percent from the field, its highest mark since shooting 49.1 percent in its Mid-American Conference opening win against Miami on Jan. 5. The Huskies also shot 40 percent from the three-point line for the first time in seven games. NIU outrebounded Bowling Green 51-39 and scored 20 points off of 20 Falcon turnovers.
"If we play really good defense, we get rebounds and we get running," said Starks. "That's when we're really good in the open court. We got some easy looks and just stayed aggressive."
The Huskies open a two-game road swing on Saturday, Feb. 9 at Ball State. Tip-off is at 3:30 p.m.
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