BAYAMON, Puerto Rico - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team made a season-high 15 three-pointers and got a career-high 20 points from senior forward Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) in a 72-55 win over the Radford Highlanders Friday in the Puerto Rico Clasico at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez.

"It makes the game easy when you knock down shots," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following the Huskies' second consecutive win. "I thought we did a nice job of sharing the basketball and getting paint touches that led to open three-point looks."

Stonebraker was 10-for-15 from the field and added nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont), Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook), Tara Stauffacher (Columbus, Wis./Wisconsin) and Moriah Prewitt (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian School) each made three three-pointers for the Huskies. Hunter finished the game with 10 points as Marable filled the box score with nine points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Prewitt's nine points were a career-high.

NIU (2-3) got out to an early 11-6 lead behind a Hunter four-point play, two Stonebraker layups and a Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) three. The Huskies grew the lead to seven when a Stauffacher triple made the score 19-12 with 1:16 to go. Radford got a three-pointer from Maci Rhoades in the final 10 seconds to get within four, 19-15. Both defenses shined in the second quarter as each team scored nine points as NIU took a 28-24 lead into the locker room.

The Huskies opened the third quarter with back-to-back threes from Hunter and Stauffacher to take a 34-24 lead with 7:47 to go, prompting a Radford timeout. The Highlanders scored the next five points as a Taniyah Hanner layup cut the NIU advantage in half, 34-29, at the 7:01 mark. That would be as close as Radford would get.

Sparked by a Stonebraker layup, the Huskies went on a 13-2 run over 4:09 to take a 47-31 lead with 1:55 to go in the quarter. Marable, Prewitt and Stauffacher each made a three in the run that put NIU ahead by 16. Prewitt made a three with 0:10 left off an offensive rebound to give the Huskies a 50-32 lead heading into the fourth. NIU was 8-for-15 from the field in the third quarter, making 6-of-9 three-point attempts, and held the Highlanders to 21.4 percent from the field in a 22-8 quarter. The Huskies led by as much as 25 points in the fourth before a late Radford run made the final score 72-55.

"Our defense fueled our offense in the third quarter," Carlsen said. "We started the first and third quarters strong, and that's key to setting the tone. We got better and better at recognizing personnel defensively and did a great job keeping Radford on the perimeter."

The Huskies shot 46.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from long range. NIU also held a 33-32 edge in rebounding. The Huskies had a season-high 22 assists with the starting backcourt of Marable, Hunter and Kortney Drake (Wilton, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) contributing 14 of them.

Radford (2-5) was led in scoring by Ashlyn Traylor-Walker's 19 points.

NIU takes on Indiana State Saturday at 10 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on the NIU Huskies and Varsity Network Apps.

—NIU—