CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior guard
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led all scorers Sunday with 23 points but the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team shot just 32.8 percent from the field in a 70-53 loss to the Harvard Crimson at Lavietes Pavilion.
Koker scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half, with 14 in the third quarter alone. She also had eight rebounds and four assists.
Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) made three three-pointers for her nine points.
Emily Meinert (Galesburg, Ill./Parkland College) tied a career-high with nine rebounds.
"Chelby did a good job of hunting more for her shot," said head coach
Lisa Carlsen after Sunday's game. "I thought Harvard did a good job of taking away the opportunity for her to drive and kick out to open shooters. We got a few looks late in offensive transition but not great opportunities when we got to the point because of Harvard's length."
NIU (1-1) took a 3-0 lead on a Koker triple less than two minutes into the game. The Huskies then went cold from the field as Harvard went on a 14-0 run to take a 14-3 lead.
Nia Ahart (Detroit, Mich./Colgate) ended the Crimson run with her first three-pointer as a Huskie to put the score at 14-6 with 0:46 left in the quarter.
Harvard (1-2) used a 9-0 run in the second quarter, highlighted by five points from Maggie McCarthy, to take a 30-13 lead with 2:03 to play. The Huskies cut the deficit to 13 by halftime as a pair of Meinert free throws and an
Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) in the final 30 seconds made the score 30-17 at halftime.
Koker scored nine of NIU's first 13 points in the third quarter, with a three-point play at the 4:49 mark putting the Huskies within 13 at 43-30. Harvard then scored 12 of the next 13 points over 2:46 to go up 55-31, the Crimson's largest lead of the game. A Koker three-pointer sparked a 10-0 run that spilled over into the fourth quarter when freshman
Moriah Prewitt (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) made her first career three to make the score 55-41 with 9:47 to play. After a 9-0 Harvard run put the Crimson ahead by 23, Koker and Poisson combined to score 10 straight points for NIU to get the Huskies within 13, 64-51. That would be as close as NIU would get.
"We couldn't play today the way we did against Illinois State because of Harvard's length," Carlsen said. "It took us awhile to get used to it and we didn't adjust soon enough in order to have success. This will be a good film for us to watch and look at situations where we missed opportunities or we didn't execute when we needed to."
NIU returns to the Convocation Center on Monday, Nov. 22 to host Bradley. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Season tickets for the 2021-22 NIU women's basketball season start at $35 for a General Admission seat. A Reserved season ticket (sections 103, 112 and 113) costs $50. For more ticket information, log on to NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies or call 815-753-PACK (7225). Courtside seats and other premium options are available through the Huskie Athletic Fund at 815-753-1923 or by logging on to HuskieAthleticFund.com.
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