DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team came up short in its bid for a third straight win Saturday as a last-second three from Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) to force overtime went off the rim in a 68-65 loss to the Western Michigan Broncos at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
"Today was a traditional MAC game, coming down to two teams going at it in the last couple possessions," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "We put ourselves again in a position to potentially go to overtime. I don't think the last three or four possessions are ones that we're going to look at. It's going to be possessions through the course of the game that we gave away."
 
NIU (8-15, 4-8 MAC) led 30-29 at halftime and 42-40 with 5:21 left in the third quarter when the Broncos went on a 13-4 run over the last 4:53 to take a 53-46 lead. Leighah-Amori Wool and Reilly Jacobson combined for three three-pointers in that final stretch of the third to give Western Michigan a seven-point lead going into the final quarter. After Breanna Mobley put in a layup 30 seconds into the fourth to give Western Michigan its largest lead of the game, 55-46, the Huskies responded with a 9-0 run over the next 2:38 to tie the game. Grace Hunter sparked the scoring spurt with a three as NIU added baskets from Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead), Nikitinaite, and Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) to make the score 55-55 with 6:52 to play.
 
Western Michigan (13-10, 6-6 MAC) broke the tie with a Maddie Watters triple which started a 7-2 Broncos run to put the visitors ahead 62-57 at the 3:05 mark. Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) buried a three with 2:42 to go to get the Huskies within two but back-to-back Mobley layups gave Western Michigan a 66-60 lead with 1:07 remaining. NIU got within three points twice in the final minute, with a Starks jumper making the score 68-65 with 0:14 left. The Huskies then got a steal on Western Michigan's last possession to set up the final shot. Starks drove the baseline and found Nikitinaite in the corner, whose fadeaway three came up short off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
 
"I think what we had drawn up gave us great options to get that shot off," Carlsen said. "We had Gabby in the corner, Riley in the opposite corner and then Courtney [Woods] so I can't fault our execution on that last play."
 
NIU led by as much as eight points in the first quarter as a Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) three and an A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) layup put the Huskies ahead 19-11 with 1:48 left in the opening period. The Broncos closed to within four by the end of the quarter on baskets by Ashley Konkle and Jordan Walker. The Huskies built its lead back up to four with 7:19 to go in the second quarter on a Blackwell three and a Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's) to take a 24-20 lead. Western Michigan then scored nine of the next 13 points to take a 29-28 lead on a Mobley basket with 1:00 left in the half. Woods capped a six-point second quarter with a layup in the final seconds to give NIU a 30-29 halftime lead.
 
Western Michigan shot 45.2 percent from the field as NIU shot 39.7 percent. Both teams had 38 rebounds and 19 turnovers. Woods led the Huskies with 18 points and seven rebounds. Starks added a season-high 16 points and a game-high five assists.
 
"Myia is playing like we expect her to," said Carlsen about NIU's senior point guard. "She has an understanding of what we're trying to accomplish on both ends of the floor. Myia has been scoring the basketball a little bit better in the last couple weeks, but she's always been someone who's been really important to us in other facets of the game."
 
NIU goes on the road on Wednesday, February 19 to take on Ball State. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT.
 
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