MUNCIE, Ind. – Senior guard Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) led the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team with a game-high 37 points as the Huskies won their third straight game, a 93-83 win over the Ball State Cardinals at John E. Worthen Arena Saturday afternoon.
 
Voigt was 10-for-18 from the field Saturday, going 8-for-12 from the three-point line and 9-for-10 at the free throw line. It was her third game of at least 30 points this season, and her fifth game of at least 20 points in the last six. Voigt had 25 points in the second half and 15 in the fourth quarter alone. Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) had 19 points and seven assists.
 
"We love seeing the ball go in the basket," said Voigt. "I credit that to good ball movement and really great passes. It's easy when you're open and get a good pass and knock it down. If teams are going to key in on me a little more, that just means other people are going to be open and I have faith in my teammates to knock down those shots."
 
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with seven lead changes and six ties. NIU (14-8, 6-4 MAC) broke an 11-11 tie at the 5:49 mark with back-to-back baskets by Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) and Starks to take a 15-11 lead. Ball State (7-15, 2-8 MAC) then went on a 9-5 run over the next 1:53 as a Jasmin Samz three tied the game at 20. After an Oshlynn Brown jumper put the Cardinals ahead 22-20, Starks and Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) scored four straight points to give the Huskies a 24-22 lead with 1:36 to play in the quarter. Ball State then got five straight points from Maliah Howard-Bass to take a 27-24 lead, but a Voigt jumper in the final 22 seconds cut the Cardinals' lead to one, 27-26, by the end of the quarter.
 
The Huskies opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run, highlighted by a Voigt triple, to take a 35-29 lead with 6:51 to play until halftime. NIU's lead grew to 12 when a Ninni Salmi (Kauhajoki, Finland/San Francisco) three sparked a quick 7-0 run that put the Huskies ahead 44-32 with 4:40 to play in the second. Ball State closed to within six with 2:04 remaining in the half when a pair of Thelma Dis Agustsdottir jumpers made the score 44-38. NIU scored five of the last seven points of the half, as Starks beat the buzzer with a jumper from the foul line to give the Huskies a 49-40 halftime lead.
 
"We came out hot and got going early," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "There were some really good offensive possessions on both ends tonight, and what it came down to was we got a couple more stops and did a really nice job on the glass. That was the difference."
 
NIU built its lead to 11 in the first 2:29 of the third quarter, getting a Voigt three, two Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) free throws, and a Starks layup to go ahead 56-45. Ball State got within four at 65-61 with 2:53 left in the quarter when a Nakeya Penny layup capped an 11-4 run. The Huskies outscored the Cardinals 10-5 for the remainder of the quarter, with threes by Voigt and Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) putting NIU up 72-63 heading into the fourth quarter. Voigt scored 11 of NIU's first 14 points in the final period, making back-to-back threes to give the Huskies an 86-75 lead with 3:55 to go.
 
The Huskies shot 51.5 percent from the field, their highest mark since shooting 59.5 percent against Chicago State on Dec. 21. NIU also made double-digit three-pointers for the second straight game with 10. The Huskies outrebounded the Cardinals 40-27 and are now 13-0 this season when outrebounding their opponent. NIU had 16 offensive rebounds and scored 21 second chance points. Samz led Ball State with 23 points.
 
"We've shown a lot of team toughness in our last two road wins," Carlsen said. "There hasn't been that panic in certain situations that the home team can take advantage of. We've executed really well in those situations, and that's what I've been most impressed with. If you can have that for 40 minutes in this league, you're going to give yourself an opportunity to win every game."
 
The Huskies are back on the road on Wednesday, Feb, 13 to take on Miami. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
 
--NIU--