MACOMB, IL - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team got the basket and the stop it needed to force overtime against the Western Illinois Leathernecks Friday night at Western Hall in the Compass Challenge, but Western Illinois opened extra time on an 8-0 run en route to a 92-83 win.
"Western made some big shots at the start of overtime that put us on back on our heels," said head coach
Lisa Carlsen following Friday's game. "Our biggest issue was our defensive intensity tonight, and that bore out in overtime."
NIU (3-2) led 56-55 heading into the fourth quarter. Western Illinois scored the first four points of the fourth on back-to-back Danni Nichols fast break layups to take a 59-56 lead with 8:29 left in regulation. The Huskies responded with five straight points as a
Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) three-pointer put NIU up 61-59 at the 6:33 mark. The Leathernecks once again took the lead 63-61 after a pair of Jada Thorpe free throws with 5:40 left. Poisson and
Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) combined to make three straight threes over the next 2:41 to put NIU back ahead 70-69 with under 3:00 to go.
"Sidney did a good job of coming into the game and shooting the ball with confidence," Carlsen said of the redshirt-freshman guard's performance. "This was her first real action coming off of the knee injury last season and she showed what she can do on the floor, especially from the three-point line."
Western Illinois (6-2) took back the advantage on a Thorpe triple, making the score 72-70 with 2:47 to play in the fourth.
A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) tied the game 72-72 with a putback layup with 1:10 remaining. Davis had a chance to put NIU up one but couldn't convert the three-point play. Nichols made two free throws with 0:47 left to give the Leathernecks a 74-72 lead. On NIU's next possession,
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) drove into the lane but did not finish at the rim. However, Davis grabbed the offensive rebound and scored to tie the game at 74 with 0:16 left. The Huskies then got the defensive stop they needed in the final seconds to force overtime.
The Leathernecks opened overtime with an 8-0 run, as a three from Thorpe and an Evan Zars three-point play gave Western Illinois an 82-74 lead with 3:25 to go in the extra session. The Huskies got as close as six but Western Illinois made its free throws down the stretch to make the final score 92-83.
NIU's best quarter came in the second. The Huskies shot 47.6 percent from the field in the quarter and were able to turn a four-point first quarter deficit into a seven-point halftime lead. Down 27-22 early in the second, back-to-back Koker baskets started a 15-2 run over 3:54 that saw the Huskies take a 37-29 lead with 4:32 to play until halftime. McCrea's first three of the game with 5:11 to go started a stretch of nine unanswered points that put NIU in front. Koker scored the last six points of that run with a three-pointer as well as a conventional three-point play. The Huskies got baskets from McCrea and
Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) late in the quarter to give NIU a 41-34 halftime lead.
Davis led NIU in scoring, tying her career-high with 21 points. She also added a team-high 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year. McCrea had a season-high 17 points, going 5-for-8 from the three-point line. Koker had 15 points and seven rebounds with Poisson making four threes for 12 points. Marable set new career-highs with six rebounds and five assists. NIU outrebounded Western Illinois 54-42, scoring 24 second chance points off 20 offensive rebounds.
The Huskies take on Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon in the Compass Challenge at Western Hall. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.
—NIU—
