DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team had its five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon in a 69-65 loss to the Kent State Golden Flashes at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
Sophomore forward A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) led the Huskies with a career-high 19 points and three steals, adding seven rebounds. Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) had 10 points off the bench.
 
"You have to tip your hat to Kent State," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following Saturday's game. "I thought, for the most part, throughout the entire 40 minutes they were the tougher team. They hit a couple big shots and we put ourselves in a deficit at a really bad time. You have to give them credit for being really good defensively."
 
NIU (11-7, 9-4 MAC) opened the third quarter on a 12-4 run in the first 3:45 to take a 40-34 lead. Davis and Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) scored all 12 points in that stretch for the Huskies. After the Golden Flashes closed within one 40-39, Davis scored back-to-back baskets to start a 7-2 run for NIU that put the home team ahead 47-41 with 0:48 left in the third. The Huskies took a 49-44 lead into the final quarter after a Hodges layup in the final seconds. NIU shot 59 percent from the field in the quarter to erase a three-point halftime deficit with Davis scoring 12 of the Huskies' 21 points.
 
Kent State (8-6, 7-4 MAC) got back in the game with the three-pointer in the fourth. Mariah Modkins and Clare Kelly combined for three threes in an 11-4 Golden Flashes run that put Kent State ahead 55-53 with 8:03 to play. The Huskies responded with a 10-4 run of their own, capped by layups from Koker and Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais), to go ahead 63-59 with 3:46 remaining.
 
Brandon's layup proved to be NIU's last field goal of the game. Kent State went on an 8-1 run, highlighted by a Lindsey Thall three-pointer, to take a 67-64 lead with 0:59 left in the game. Koker split a pair of free throws with 0:45 left to make it a two-point game 67-65. The Huskies forced a turnover on the Golden Flashes' next possession to have a chance to tie the game with 0:18 left. However, NIU was unable to inbound the basketball and turned it over. The Huskies were forced to foul and sent Modkins to the free throw line where her two free throws made the final score 69-65.
 
Kent State used a 7-0 run in the first quarter to take a 13-7 lead on a Thall basket at the 3:09 mark. NIU responded by scoring six of the last eight points of the quarter with a pair of Davis free throws getting the Huskies within two, 15-13, at the end of the first. Three straight three-pointers from Poisson and Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) put NIU back in front in the second quarter, taking a 22-20 lead at the 7:16 mark. Kent State then held NIU to one basket over 6:50, going up 31-24 on a Hannah Young three with 0:43 left in the half. Koker got the deficit down to three by halftime. The sophomore guard scored a layup with 0:26 left, then stole the Kent State inbounds pass and scored again to make the score 31-28 at halftime.
 
Both teams shot an identical 41.4 percent from the field. Kent State made 7-of-25 three-point attempts and held NIU to a season-low 4-for-15 from long range. The Huskies outrebounded the Golden Flashes 41-33. Nila Blackford led Kent State with 19 points and nine rebounds.
 
NIU and Kent State face off again Sunday at the NIU Convocation Center at 1 p.m.
 
--NIU--