DeKALB, IL – Led by sophomore guard Chelby Koker's (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) game-high 21 points and a plus-22 rebound margin as a team, the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team got back in the win column Saturday with a 73-56 win over the Western Michigan Broncos at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
Koker was 7-for-15 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. She is now 36-for-37 from the charity stripe this season. Koker also had six rebounds and three assists. Freshman Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) had a career-high 14 points off the bench. A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) had 12 points and nine rebounds. Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) led all players with 11 rebounds and added seven points. The Huskies had a season-high 32 points off its bench.
 
"We got out to a slow start and our bench was able to jumpstart us," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "That was critical because everybody really does add a little bit different dynamic to us on the floor. I really like the pieces we have and, at times, all of them have been a part to some of the success we've had and the times we've played good basketball."
 
NIU (3-5, 1-2 MAC) used a 14-2 run over 2:36 in the first quarter to take a 14-7 lead, with Koker and Brandon combining for 12 of the points. Western Michigan responded with the next 11 points as a Megan Wagner three and a Taylor Williams layup giving the Broncos an 18-14 lead. Marable put the Huskies back in the lead with five points in the final minute of the first, giving NIU a 19-18 lead after the opening quarter.
 
Those five points from the freshman guard helped spark a 13-0 NIU run as the Huskies took a 27-18 lead with 7:34 remaining in the second quarter. NIU's defense was on point in the second, holding Western Michigan to six points on 3-for-17 shooting and 0-for-7 from the three-point line. The Huskies took their largest lead of the half at the 4:04 mark on a Davis layup that made the score 33-20 as NIU took a 35-24 lead into halftime.
 
Western Michigan (1-4, 0-3 MAC) scored the first five points of the third quarter to get within six, 35-29, with 8:23 left on the clock. That was as close as the Broncos would get the rest of the way. A Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) three-pointer kickstarted a 15-4 NIU run over the next 6:58 that gave the Huskies a 50-33 lead. The Huskies took their largest lead of the game with 8:02 to play in the fourth as a Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) three and a Davis basket put NIU up 20, 61-41.
 
The 53 points allowed by NIU is its lowest since allowing 52 in a 66-52 win over Bowling Green on January 16, 2019. The Huskies outrebounded the Broncos 54-32 for their first rebound margin of 20 or better in a game since Dec. 8, 2018 against Western Illinois. NIU shot 39.3 percent from the field and made a season-high 19 free throws in 23 attempts.
 
"It's always good to get that first MAC win and to get it at home was critical as well," Carlsen said. "I think we had some different people step up and do some really nice things for us, especially off the bench which I think is a strength for us. Hopefully our versatility and depth will continue to be something that we can utilize and have success with going forward."
 
Wagner led Western Michigan with 13 points as Williams had 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Huskies are next in action on Wednesday, Jan. 6 with a 1 p.m. game at Kent State.
 
--NIU--