BOWLING GREEN, OH – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team erased a five-point deficit in the final 41 seconds of regulation to force overtime against the Bowling Green Falcons Saturday at the Stroh Center, then outscored the Falcons 12-7 to win 92-87.
 
Bowling Green (8-14, 1-9 MAC) used a 10-0 run late in the fourth quarter to take a 78-73 lead with 0:46 left in regulation. Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia) then went to the foul line on NIU's next possession and made two free throws to make the score 78-75 with 0:41 to play. The Huskies then forced a turnover with Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) going end to end for a layup that put NIU within one, 78-77, with 33 seconds left. Madisen Parker made it a three-point game with two free throws with 21 seconds left, putting the score at 80-77. Riley Blackwell came up with the shot that forced overtime. The junior forward made a corner three with 5.1 seconds left to level the game at 80. The Huskies then got a stop on the Falcons' final possession to force the extra period.
 
"This game was going to be a battle down to the wire," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "It's tough to win on the road. I've used the word resiliency a lot with this team, especially in the last few weeks. Riley's three to put the game into overtime is a great example of that, of doing your job. For her to calmly knock that down just shows our depth and our ability to call upon different people at different times to make plays."
 
NIU (7-14, 3-7 MAC) rode that momentum swing into overtime. The Huskies scored the first seven points of overtime on a pair of Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) layups and a Woods three with 1:58 to go that made the score 87-80. After a Parker three got the Falcons within four, Starks scored four straight points to give NIU a 90-83 lead with 34 seconds to play. Bowling Green got as close as three late in the overtime, but were forced to foul. Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) made two foul shots with 12 seconds to go to secure the Huskies' 92-87 win.
 
"Once we got it to overtime, we found a way to make the plays to win the game," Carlsen said. "We fought too hard to let it slip away. This team never panics and that's a credit to our upperclassmen because there isn't a lot that they haven't seen over the years. They understand time and score and what we're trying to accomplish."
 
The Huskies got a big contribution from Ninni Salmi (Kauhajoki, Finland/San Francisco) to start the game. Salmi had seven of NIU's first 10 points as NIU took a 10-6 lead with 5:44 to go in the first quarter. Bowling Green came back to take a 17-16 lead with 0:53 left in the first on an Angela Perry three, but NIU scored four of the last five points of the quarter to take a 20-18 lead.  
 
NIU used a 9-2 run midway through the second quarter to take a 31-26 lead on a Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) three-pointer with 4:08 left until halftime. The Falcons responded with eight straight points to take a 34-31 lead, but NIU got threes from Woods and Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) in an 8-2 run that put the Huskies up 39-36 with 0:46 left in the first half. The Falcons cut the NIU lead to one with 0:31 to go on a pair of Madisen Parker free throws, giving the Huskies a 39-38 lead going into halftime. NIU led by as much as five in the third quarter before back-to-back threes by Parker and Caterrion Thompson gave Bowling Green a 50-49 lead with 3:33 left in the third. Woods put the Huskies back in front with a three-pointer 23 seconds later, making the score 52-50.
 
Bowling Green went on a 7-2 run early in the fourth quarter as a Thompson three put the Falcons ahead 64-62 with 7:15 to play in regulation. NIU answered Bowling Green's scoring burst with an 11-4 run over the next 3:25, with five points from Woods, to take a 73-68 lead with 3:50 left.  
 
Woods led all scorers with a season-high 32 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Nikitinaite had 16 points and a team-high five assists as Starks added a season-high 15 points with seven rebounds. NIU shot 57 percent from the field in overtime to finish the game at 45.6 percent. The Huskies were a season-best 22-for-30 at the free throw line while outrebounding Bowling Green 46-38. NIU also had a season-low 11 turnovers.

The Huskies are back at the NIU Convocation Center on Wednesday, February 12 to take on Miami at 6 p.m. NIU will host it's Power of the Pack free clinic for all girls and boys in first through eighth grade in Victor E. Court prior to the game starting at 5 p.m. Attendees are invited to help form the high-five tunnel prior to NIU women's basketball taking the floor against the RedHawks. Those wanting to attend Power of the Pack can sign up at the following link. Tickets are available now online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
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