DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team had five players score in double figures Sunday afternoon in an 80-70 win over the Ohio Bobcats at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
Junior forward A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) had her 15^th double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Graduate Student guard Nia Ahart (Detroit, Mich./Colgate) set career-highs with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
 
"I was just trusting in myself and that my teammates will find me and give me the confidence to do what I do," said Ahart of her breakout performance Sunday.
 
Three other Huskies scored in double figures on Sunday. Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) and Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) both had 12 points. Brandon added seven rebounds and a career-high five assists. Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) scored 11 points off the bench.
 
NIU (9-11, 6-6 MAC) led by as much as 11 in the first quarter when an Ahart jumper and two Brandon free throws made the score 24-13 with 3:30 to go. Sparked by an Alexandra Antonova three, Ohio went on a 13-0 run to take a 26-24 lead with 0:35 left in the opening quarter. McCrea tied the game at 26 with a jumper in the final seconds of the quarter. NIU shot 60 percent from the field in the first quarter.
 
The two teams traded baskets to start the second, with a Yaya Felder three and three straight points from Cece Hooks giving the Bobcats a 34-31 lead with 6:20 to go until halftime. NIU then got hot from the three-point line. McCrea and Moriah Prewitt (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) combined to make three straight three-pointers to start a 16-0 run over 4:45 that put the Huskies up 47-34 with less than a minute left in the quarter. Erica Johnson made a three for Ohio with 0:32 left to make the halftime score 47-37. NIU held Ohio to 23.5 percent from the field in the second quarter while shooting 50 percent in the quarter itself.
 
"The second quarter was a difference in the ballgame," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "We came out and shot the ball extremely well, which was critical. We were able to pull away in the second and then it became kind of a back-and-forth game the rest of the way. It's definitely a great win for us."
 
The Huskies took their largest lead of the game midway through the third quarter. NIU opened on a 9-2 run highlighted by a Poisson three to go up 17 points, 56-39, with 5:55 remaining. Ohio got within 13 with 4:26 to go in the third on a Johnson layup, but baskets from Davis and Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) put NIU back up by 17 64-47 with 2:40 left in the third. Sparked by five points from Hooks, Ohio closed the third quarter on a 9-2 run to get within 10, 66-56, heading into the fourth quarter.
 
NIU got some much needed breathing room to start the fourth quarter, going on an 8-3 run that started with four straight points from Ahart that made the score 74-59 with 6:10 to go. The Bobcats responded with an 8-0 run with threes from Johnson and Antonova to get within seven at 74-67 with 4:15 to go. That would be as close as the Bobcats would get. NIU held Ohio to 25 percent from the field in the final period to come away with the 80-70 win.
 
"A lot of people stepped up and did some really good things today," Carlsen said. "Every game is going to provide different challenges. I think we have a group right that when they're number is called, they're ready to go and understand the game plan."
 
NIU shot 43.8 percent from the field on Sunday and was 13-for-15 from the free throw line. The Huskies also made 11 threes and outrebounded Ohio 49-32. NIU assisted on 23 of its 28 made baskets.
 
Ohio (11-8, 5-5 MAC) was led by Hooks' 20 points and six rebounds. Johnson and Yaya Felder both added 16 points.
 
The Huskies go on the road Wednesday, Feb. 9 to take on the Bowling Green Falcons at Stroh Center. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT.
 
NIU is back at the Convocation Center on Saturday, Feb. 12 when the Buffalo Bulls come to DeKalb for a 1 p.m. game on Play 4 Kay Day. Tickets can be purchased online at NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225). Huskie Flex Plans are still available for the 2021-22 basketball season. Purchase vouchers for $6 each and use them throughout the season to attend Huskie men's and women's basketball home games. Simply redeem vouchers for tickets at the box office prior to the game.
 
--NIU--