DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team held the Miami RedHawks to 20 points in the second half Saturday at the NIU Convocation Center, outscoring Miami by 17 to come away with a 66-52 win.
 
The win is the Huskies' sixth in the last seven games. Sophomore guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led all players with 26 points and added seven assists, one shy of her career high. Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) had 10 points, six rebounds and two steals. Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) led the Huskies with seven rebounds and a career-high two blocks while scoring six points.
 
"They definitely made me work for it," Koker said about her eighth 20-point game of the year. "My teammates did a good job within our system on offense and I was just going with the flow and doing what I had to do."
 
NIU (8-6, 6-3 MAC) held Miami to 15 percent shooting from the field in the first quarter en route to a 16-10 lead. The Huskies took a 19-10 early in the second on a Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) three-pointer, but the RedHawks responded with a 20-5 run over the next 7:13 to take a 30-24 lead with 2:14 to go until halftime. Abbey Hoff and Jada Duckett combined for 10 of Miami's 20 points in that stretch. NIU cut the deficit to one on a Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) three and a pair of Hodges free throws but Peyton Scott put in a layup in the final seconds to give Miami a 32-29 halftime lead.
 
The Huskies got off to a fast start in the third, going on a 9-2 run capped by Castro's second three of the day to put NIU up 38-34 with 8:11 to go. NIU's run extended to an 18-5 run after nine straight Huskie points put the home team up 10, 47-37, with 2:45 remaining in the quarter. Koker had six points in that stretch, including back-to-back layups that put the lead in double digits. Miami got as close as five, but a Koker three with 0:24 left capped a 21-10 quarter that put NIU up 50-42 heading into the final period.
 
"Miami's physicality and length caused us some problems in the first half, and in the second half we had a much better understanding of what we needed to do to spread them out," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "When we made our run in the third the biggest thing was being able to string stops together. Making shots makes players really confident but getting stops makes teams confident as well."
 
Miami (1-14, 0-11 MAC) got within six in the fourth when consecutive baskets from Duckett and Scott made the score 54-48 with 6:06 to play. The Huskies then put the game away from there. Behind eight points from Koker, NIU closed the game on a 12-4 run to tie its season-low for points allowed with the 66-52 win.
 
"We stayed in system more on the defensive end and we brought a lot more energy," said Brandon about NIU's defensive showing in the second half. "When our team has a lot of energy on the bench and the floor, our defense is a lot better."
 
NIU shot 43.1 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from the three-point arc, holding Miami to 31.7 percent from the field and 23.3 percent from long distance. The Huskies outrebounded the RedHawks 43-33 and assisted on 13 of 22 made baskets. Hoff led Miami with 11 points as Scott had 10 points, nine assists and five rebounds.
 
The Huskies host Bowling Green on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at the NIU Convocation Center at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
--NIU--