TOLEDO, OH – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team saw its winning streak halted at four games Wednesday afternoon at Savage Arena as the Toledo Rockets rallied in the fourth quarter for a 67-62 win.
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) notched her seventh 20-point game of the season with a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds.
A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) had 12 points and six rebounds as
Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) added 11 points off the bench.
Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) scored in double figures for the third time in four games with 10 points and added seven rebounds.
"We just didn't play well enough to win tonight," said head coach
Lisa Carlsen. "You got to give Toledo credit. They're one of the best defensive teams in the league and they made it tough on us. In a possession-for-possession ballgame like we had tonight, there was definitely some critical ones there in the fourth quarter that we just didn't execute."
NIU's (6-6, 4-3 MAC) defense was stellar in the third quarter, holding Toledo to 1-for-17 from the field and 0-for-10 at the three-point line. The Huskies opened the quarter on an 8-1 run capped by a Poisson three that gave NIU a 42-33 lead with 5:21 to play, NIU's largest lead of the game.
Toledo (8-4, 4-4 MAC) chipped away at NIU's lead at the free throw line, making 10 straight free throws to get within five, 48-43, with 1:03 to go. Quinesha Lockett then made Toledo's only basket of the period with 0:37 left to get the Rockets within two, 48-45. Koker got the lead up to five with a layup in the final seconds, putting the Huskies ahead 50-45 heading into the fourth quarter.
Hodges converted a three-point play with 8:30 to go in the fourth to make the score 53-48, responding to an early three from Tatyana Davis. NIU then missed its next five shots from the field and added four turnovers as Toledo went on a 10-0 run bookended by layups from Davis and Sammi Mikonowicz to take a 58-55 lead with 3:12 to go. The Huskies closed within three on an
A'Jah Davis layup at the 2:57 mark but that was as close as NIU would get. The Rockets shot 53.3 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and held the Huskies to 22.2 percent to come away with the 67-62 win.
"Toledo did a pretty good job of taking away our three-point looks," Carlsen said. "We only shot 17 of them. They did a nice job of running us off the line and when that happens, we have to be petter in the paint around the rim."
After playing to an 18-18 tie in the first quarter, Toledo opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run with a Tatyana Davis layup putting the Rockets ahead 24-18 with 6:29 left in the period.
A'Jah Davis put an end to Toledo's run with a basket at the 6:15 mark, snapping a scoreless streak of 6:38 for NIU.
The Rockets took their largest lead of the game with 5:08 left in the second after back-to-back threes from Davis and Sophia Wiard put Toledo up 30-22. The Huskies closed the half on a 12-3 run, sparked by a Davis layup and Brandon three-point play, to take a 34-32 lead at intermission. NIU scored the last seven points of the half with Poisson putting in the last five.
NIU finished the game shooting 39.3 percent from the field but was just 5-for-17 from the three-point line. Tatyana Davis led Toledo with 19 points as Mikonowicz added 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Huskies are back in action at the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 23 to take on Kent State at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Although fans are unable to attend NIU basketball games this season, you can still make your presence felt in the NIU Convocation Center by purchasing a cutout as part of the "Huskie Howl" presented by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). For just $60, fans can put their image on a cutout that will remain in place in the NIU Convocation Center for all NIU men's and women's basketball games during the 2020-21 season. Net proceeds from all fan cutouts will benefit the Huskie Athletic Fund.
Click here to order your cutout.
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