DEKALB, IL - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team got 26 points from redshirt-senior guard Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) and 19 points and a career-high 21 rebounds from A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) to come away with a 69-64 overtime win over the Buffalo Bulls Saturday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
"It was a hard-fought 45 minutes, a lot of games within the game," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following NIU's fifth straight win over Buffalo at the Convocation Center. "I thought we came out really ready to play and were pretty good defensively, which was critical."
 
Poisson's 26 points are a season-high and one shy of tying her career-high of 27 set against Kent State in 2017. She made four three-pointers and added six rebounds. Davis became the first player since Cassidy Glenn in 2017 against Ball State to have at least 20 rebounds in a game. Her double-double gave her 17 on the season, tying the single-season record set by Ally Lehman in the 2016-17 campaign.
 
"I take pride in rebounding," said Davis. "Some of those today led to possessions that they didn't get and are extra possessions my team can get."
 
NIU (10-12, 7-7 MAC) quickly turned its two-point halftime lead into a 10-point advantage in the third quarter. Poisson and Davis scored four points each in an 8-0 run that put the Huskies up 36-26 with 7:16 left in the period. The two sides traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter with NIU taking a 47-37 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Buffalo (16-8, 10-4 MAC) used a 13-1 run over 4:41 in the final quarter to get within one, 53-52, with 1:35 left in regulation. Dyaisha Fair had seven of the 13 points for the Bulls. Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) put the Huskies up three with 0:38 left when her jumper in the lane made the score 55-52. Buffalo's Georgia Woolley tied the game at 55 with a three on the Bulls' next possession. The Bulls had a chance to win in regulation but Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) blocked a Fair layup in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.
 
The Huskies took a 60-58 lead with 2:36 to go in overtime on a Nia Ahart (Detroit, Mich./Colgate) three. Woolley then tied the game at 60 with 1:55 left in the extra session. NIU broke the tie with back-to-back layups from Davis and Poisson, taking a 64-60 lead with under a minute to go. That would be the cushion NIU would need, as the Huskies and Bulls traded points the rest of the way. Buffalo got within two points twice, but NIU answered both times with free throws to make the final score 69-64.
 
"I'm proud of this group, especially in the last five minutes because I think they understood that each possession was its own little game," Carlsen said. "We did a really good job of understanding the situation and showing poise."
 
NIU opened the game on an 18-2 run over the first 6:50 Saturday. The Huskies scored 14 unanswered points, nine of which came on Poisson threes, to take their largest lead of the game. Buffalo scored seven of the last nine points in the first to make the score 20-9 going into the second. The Bulls answered the Huskies' run to start the game with an 11-1 spurt to open the second quarter. Fair scored six of the 11 points as Buffalo cut the NIU lead to one, 21-20, with 5:15 to go until halftime. The Huskies got the lead back up to six when a Davis layup and Brandon triple made the score 26-20 with 4:02 remaining. The Bulls closed the quarter on a 6-2 run over the last 3:03 to get within two, 28-26, at halftime.
 
The Huskies shot 38.2 percent from the field, holding Buffalo to 30.2 percent. The Bulls held a slim 54-53 rebounding edge. Fair led all scorers with 27 points.
 
The Huskies go on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 16 for a 6 p.m. matchup at Kent State.
 
—NIU—