KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team was tied with the Western Michigan Broncos at halftime Saturday at University Arena, but was just 4-for-22 from the field in the second half in a 63-50 loss.
 
"We'll look back at opportunities we had offensively where we didn't convert that, especially against a team like Western and on the road, we have to be better," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "I felt like there were moments in the second half where we pressed a little bit and when you aren't necessarily shooting very well and then you press, it usually doesn't equate to success."
 
Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) led NIU in scoring for the second straight game with 14 points, adding four rebounds and three steals. Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds off the bench.
 
NIU (9-18, 5-11 MAC) used a quick 8-2 run in the first quarter behind a pair of Starks threes to take an 11-9 lead with 6:41 left in the opening period. Western Michigan came back to take a 16-13 lead at the 3:13 mark after back-to-back baskets from Breanna Mobley and Jordan Walker. The Huskies held the Broncos scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, going on a 7-0 run with a Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's) layup in the final seconds giving NIU a 20-16 lead.
 
Western Michigan (16-11, 9-7) and NIU traded the lead 10 times in the second quarter. Nikitinaite scored nine of the Huskies' 15 points in the quarter, making a pair of free throws with 0:51 left to give NIU a 35-33 lead. The Broncos tied the game at 35 on a layup from Mobley that beat the halftime buzzer. The Huskies shot 37.1 percent from the field in the first half and scored 12 points off of 10 Western Michigan turnovers.
 
The Broncos scored the first five points of the third quarter to take a 40-35 lead on a Leighah-Amori Wool layup with 6:48 remaining. Starks snapped an 0-for-6 start from the field for the Huskies in the quarter with a layup at the 6:12 mark to get NIU within three 40-37. Walker answered with a three-pointer to put the Broncos up six, 43-37, with 5:48 left for their largest lead up to that points. Both sides then went cold from the field, combining for just one field goal in the final 5:48 of the period. The two teams traded free throws for a majority of the third quarter as a pair of Wool foul shots kept Western Michigan ahead by six, 47-41, with 1:18 to go. NIU scored the final five points of the quarter to get within one as a pair of Woods free throws and a Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) three-pointer made the score 47-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Broncos made their first three shots from the field in the final quarter to build a 53-46 lead with 7:43 to go. Koker got the Huskies within five with a layup at the 6:14 mark but that was as close as NIU got. NIU finished the game making just one of its last six shots from the field and went scoreless for the final 3:51 as the Broncos made three three-pointers in the final six minutes to cap a 63-50 win.
 
NIU finished the game shooting 29.8 percent from the field, going 4-for-22 from the field in the second half. The Huskies were 10-for-12 at the free throw line. Western Michigan shot 41.4 percent from the field and outrebounded NIU 39-36. Walker led all scorers with 33 points as Wool and Sydney Shafer each had 10 points.
 
"I thought we matched their physicality, which we knew was going to be important for us," Carlsen said. "We were tough enough to compete. Unfortunately we didn't score the basketball enough."
 
The Huskies host Ball State on Wednesday, March 4 in its final regular season home game at the NIU Convocation Center. Tickets are available by logging on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets or calling 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
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