DeKALB, IL - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team fell to 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference Saturday afternoon after a 66-50 loss to the first-place Bowling Green Falcons at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall [HS]) and Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) each led the Huskies with nine points. Nickel added a career-high five assists and tied a career-high with six rebounds. Emily Meinert (Galesburg, Ill./Parkland College) added eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
NIU (10-9, 2-6 MAC) and Bowling Green traded threes to start the game, with Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) answering an Elissa Brett triple with 7:48 to go in the first quarter. The Falcons then scored the next 15 points to go up 18-3 with 2:33 left in the quarter. Jocelyn Tate sparked the run with back-to-back layups with Brett capping the stretch with her second three of the game. The Huskies cut the deficit to 12 with 0:47 to go on a Koker steal and score and a McCrea three, making the score 20-8. Nyla Hampton put in a jumper in the final seconds of the first to give the Falcons a 22-8 advantage.
 
Bowling Green (18-2, 7-1 MAC) went on a 7-2 run to start the second quarter, with two free throws from Amy Velasco making the score 29-10 with 7:36 to go until halftime. The Falcons led by as much as 20 before NIU made a run midway through the quarter. Starting with a Nickel free throw at the 4:39 mark, the Huskies went on a 9-2 run to close the quarter and get within 13, 35-22. Nickel and Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) each had three points in that stretch.
 
The Falcons extended their lead to 18 in the third before the Huskies closed the gap to 12 late in the quarter. A Meinert three-point play and a Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) three-pointer with 0:40 left made the score 49-37. An early three from Hunter in the fourth quarter, along with a McCrea layup, got the Huskies within 10 54-44 with 8:28 to go in the game. That would be as close as NIU got. Brett made two straight threes to start a 10-2 Bowling Green run that put the Falcons ahead 64-46 with 3:38 to go.
 
"We have to match our effort with execution," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following Saturday's game. "We left too many points on the board, not just at the three-point line but also at the rim. We didn't play with the poise needed, especially on the offensive end in the first quarter. I thought we settled in a lot better at both ends in the second quarter, and if you look at what happened throughout the course of the rest of the game it was super competitive."
 
Bowling Green shot 42.1 percent from the field, holding NIU to 32.3 percent. The Falcons also outrebounded the Huskies 42-37. Brett led all scorers with 21 points and added 10 rebounds, making five three-pointers. Tate had 15 points and four assists.
 
The Huskies go on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 1 to face the Ball State Cardinals. Tip-off at Worthen Arena is set for 5:30 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--