KALAMAZOO, MI – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team was held to a season-low 53 points Saturday afternoon in an 86-53 loss to the Western Michigan Broncos at University Arena.
 
"We were never really able to get going today," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "Western Michigan shot the ball really well and had a great game plan defensively. I said before the game that I think they're probably the best basketball of anybody in the league and they showed it again today. With the remaining games we have left going into the tournament, the most important thing for us is to get right."
 
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led all scorers with 25 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) had eight points off the bench as Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) had six points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
NIU (11-10, 9-6 MAC) battled out of an early 6-0 deficit with a Hodges jumper and Koker three to make the score 6-5 with 6:25 to play in the first quarter. Western Michigan then went on a 10-2 run over 2:35 as threes from Sydney Shafer and Abby Voss gave the Broncos a 19-7 lead with 3:28 to play in the first. The Broncos made five three-pointers in the first quarter to take 24-11 lead.
 
Western Michigan (6-13, 5-12 MAC) grew its lead to 21 in the second quarter when a Reilly Jacobson layup capped a 7-0 run that put the Broncos up 36-15 with 6:05 to play until halftime. The Huskies were able to close the quarter on an 11-5 run, scoring eight straight points on threes from Koker and Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) and a Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) layup in the final minute to make the score 41-23 at halftime.
 
NIU got as close as 11 points early in the third quarter on a pair of A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) free throws that made the score 41-30. Western Michigan then scored 10 unanswered points to take a 51-30 lead on a Taylor William basket at the 6:01 mark. Koker and Poisson combined for a 10-0 run of their own to get the Huskies back within 11 with 4:04 left in the quarter, with Koker scoring seven of the 10 points. The Broncos then went on another 10-0 run powered by eight points from Shafer to take a 61-40 lead.
 
The Huskies shot a season-low 31.6 percent from the field and 20 percent from the three-point arc. Western Michigan shot 48.6 percent from the floor with 12 threes and outrebounded the Huskies 43-35. Shafer led the Broncos with 22 points.
 
NIU wraps up its home slate on Wednesday, March 3 when the Huskies host Eastern Michigan at the NIU Convocation Center for Senior Night. Game time is set for 6 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+.
 
--NIU--