EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Tara Stauffacher (Columbus, Wis./Wisconsin) led five Huskies in double-figure scoring with a career-high 21 points Sunday afternoon but it wasn't enough for the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team to overcome the hot shooting of the SIUE Cougars in an 89-79 loss at First Community Arena.
Stauffacher nearly doubled her previous career-high of 11 points, set most recently against North Dakota on March 18. The senior forward was 8-for-10 from the field and 4-for-5 from the three-point arc.
"Tara has been good for us defensively and done a lot of the dirty work to start the season, but offensively she was really good today," said head coach
Lisa Carlsen. "Not only did she shoot the ball well from the outside, she did a good job getting to the rim and being aggressive."
Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and
Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) each had 13 points for the Huskies. Marable added five rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) had 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds as
Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) chipped in 10 points and set a new career-high with seven assists.
SIUE (2-7) raced out to a quick 11-4 lead in the first 2:36 behind eight points from KK Rodriguez. The Huskies cut the deficit to two at the 6:27 mark as a Stonebraker layup and Marable three put the score at 11-9. Sparked by an Ava Stoller layup, the Cougars went on a 12-0 run over 2:03 to go up 23-9 on a Rodriguez three with 4:24 left in the opening quarter. The Huskies chipped away at the Cougars' lead for the remainder of the quarter, getting within 10 27-17 on a
Moriah Prewitt (Urbandale, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) jumper. Rodriguez had 15 of SIUE's 27 points in the first.
NIU (3-5) closed the gap to six midway through the second quarter. With just under eight minutes to go, Stauffacher put in a layup to start an 8-0 NIU run over 2:12 that made the score 31-25. The senior scored the first seven points of that stretch. After a Sofie Lowis three put SIU back up by nine, the Huskies went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 34-34 with 3:23 to go until halftime. McCrea started the scoring spurt with a layup, followed by a Hunter three and baskets from Marable and Stauffacher. SIUE closed the quarter on a 9-3 run to take a 43-37 halftime lead.
The Cougars stretched their lead to 14 points in the third quarter as a pair of Stoller free throws with 1:27 left made the score 64-50. NIU scored the final five points of the quarter on a Stauffacher three and a Marable runner in the lane that got the Huskies within nine, 64-55, going into the fourth. McCrea got NIU within five with 7:13 to play in the game, knocking down a three to make the score 66-61. That would be as close as the Huskies would get. SIUE responded with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a Macy Silvey three, to take a 73-61 lead with 5:02 to go. The Cougars were 12-for-14 from the free throw line in the final quarter to lock up an 89-79 win.
"Credit SIUE, they did a really nice job shooting the basketball," Carlsen said. "When we had breakdowns, they had opened looks and knocked them down. We had some good looks that I would like to have back, but you can't be happy giving up 89 points. They made free throws late, but we really need to work together better defensively."
Rodriguez led all scorers with a career-high 34 points. Lowis added 18 points, making 6-of-9 three-point attempts. SIUE shot 47.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from long range. NIU finished the game shooting 45.6 percent from the field but just 33.3 percent from the arc. The Cougars outrebounded the Huskies by 10, 42-32.
NIU returns home to the Convocation Center on Sunday, Dec. 10 for a 1 p.m. game against the Detroit Mercy Titans, the first of a five-game homestand. For tickets, as well as information on season tickets and mini-plans, log on to NIUHuskies.com/myhuskies or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7227).
—NIU—
