DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team was held to a season-low 58 points Sunday afternoon in a 73-58 loss to the Kent State Golden Flashes at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led the Huskies with 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and a career-high two blocks. Paulina Castro (Elgin, Ill./Harvest Christian) was 5-for-6 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the three-point arc, to score 13 points. A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) was the third Huskie to score in double figures with 12 points.
 
Kent State (9-6, 8-4 MAC) made its first five shots from the field, including four straight three-pointers, to take a 14-5 lead with 6:02 left in the first quarter. Davis made a pair of free throws with 5:36 to go to get NIU within seven, but the Golden Flashes kept up their three-point barrage making five more threes including back-to-back triples from Lindsey Thall and Clare Kelly in the final minute of the quarter to give Kent State a 33-17 lead. Kent State made 9-of-10 three-point attempts in the quarter and shot 86 percent from the field overall.
 
"It was quite an offensive display from Kent State in the first quarter to say the least," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "We put ourselves in a hole really early and that's tough to dig out of. When we were able to get stops, we just really couldn't get our offense going consistently."
 
NIU (11-8, 9-5 MAC) got within 13 early in the second on Castro's third three-pointer of the game, making the score 33-20. The Huskies were able to hold Kent State to 33.3 percent shooting from the field in the second quarter, but only outscored the Golden Flashes 13-12 in the period to go into the locker room down 45-30. NIU scored eight of the last 12 points in the half with the last four coming from Castro. The Huskies held Kent State to under 30 percent shooting from the field in the second half but shot only 30.8 percent themselves as the Golden Flashes led by as much as 22 in the fourth quarter to come away with the win.
 
The Huskies shot 38 percent from the field as Kent State shot 44.6 percent. The Golden Flashes were the first team to outrebound NIU in a Mid-American Conference game Sunday with a 42-23 rebound margin. Kelly led Kent State with five threes and 19 points.
 
NIU hosts Ball State on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
--NIU--