CHARLESTON, IL – Sophomore guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) set career-highs of 25 points and nine rebounds Saturday afternoon to lead the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team to a 79-67 win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Lantz Arena in the Compass Challenge.
 
"I think offensively we gained a lot of confidence over the last couple days," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "That's big for this young ballclub. They need to believe that what they're seeing in practice is something they'll be able to do in games. I thought we had great energy and great contributions off the bench which was huge today against a good Western Illinois team."
 
Koker was 7-of-15 from the field with four three-pointers while also making 7-of-8 free throw attempts. Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) built on her 15-point effort in Friday's win over Eastern Illinois with 20 points Saturday with four threes, two assists, and two steals. Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) scored in double figures for the second straight game with 11 points. Junior forward Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) also set a career-high in scoring Saturday with 10 points, adding six rebounds and two assists.
 
NIU (2-1) picked up where it left off Friday from the three-point line, as the Huskies first three made baskets were triples from Koker, Castro, and Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) to get within one after Western Illinois jumped out to a 10-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Koker tied the game at 14 apiece with her second three of the game at the 5:41 mark but the Leathernecks responded with a 10-3 run over the next 3:22 to take a 24-17 lead.
 
The Huskies closed the gap to four, 27-23, by the end of the first quarter and opened the second on a 12-5 run as a Castro three gave NIU a 35-32 lead with 3:54 to play until halftime. NIU's defense held Western Illinois to just 2-for-7 from the field in the first 6:06 of the second quarter after allowing the Leathernecks to shot over 60 percent from the field in the first. A Poisson three at the 2:14 mark gave the Huskies their largest lead of the half, 40-35, but the Leathernecks scored the last six points of the half to take a 41-40 lead.
 
Western Illinois (0-2) scored the first six points of the third quarter as back-to-back Danni Nichols layups put the Leathernecks ahead 47-40 at the 6:32 mark of the period. That lead was quickly erased by the Huskies, who went on a 16-2 run over 3:23 to take a 56-49 lead with 2:13 to play in the third. Poisson had nine of the 16 points in that stretch with two three-point plays, one that tied the game 47-47 and another that put NIU up seven points.
 
The Leathernecks answered with a 10-5 run that spilled over into the fourth quarter as back-to-back Evan Zars baskets and a Carla Flores three made it a two-point game, 61-59, with 6:27 remaining in the game. NIU then pulled away with an 11-2 run with Poisson, Koker, and Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) combining to go 4-for-4 from the field with three three-pointers to give the Huskies a 72-61 lead with 4:04 to go. Western Illinois would only get as close as nine points the rest of the way as NIU made its free throws down the stretch to come away with its second win in as many days.
 
"We were what we planned to be all year," Carlsen said about the Huskies' success this weekend at the Compass Challenge. "We're at our best when we're sharing the basketball. This group really understands that being unselfish is critical to our success. We had spurts where we were locked in defensively but we need to continue to work on being more consistently locked in on that end of the floor. We can be a formidable defensive team if we stay locked in."
 
The Huskies shot 41 percent from the field and was 13-for-31 from the three-point line. NIU outrebounded Western Illinois 40-36 and scored 16 points off of 13 Leathernecks turnovers. Zars led Western Illinois with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
 
NIU opens Mid-American Conference play on Thursday, December 10 against Toledo at the NIU Convocation Center. Game time against the Rockets is set for 6 p.m.
 
--NIU--