ATHENS, Ohio - Saturday's game between the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team and the Ohio Bobcats came down to the final 2.1 seconds, with the Bobcats emerging with a 72-71 win at the Convocation Center.

NIU (12-11, 4-8 MAC) trailed 70-67 with 0:20 left in regulation when A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) put in a layup to get NIU within one. Ohio's Caitlyn Kroll missed two free throws on the Bobcats' next possession, opening the door for the Huskies to take back the lead. Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) was fouled with 12 seconds left, which put NIU in the bonus. She made both free throws to give NIU a 71-70 lead.

The Bobcats took back the lead with 2.1 seconds left. Abby Garnett threw a lob from the sideline that Yaya Felder put in to make the score 72-71. With 1.6 seconds to go, NIU had one last chance to win it. Davis caught a pass from Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) and put up a layup that was short. She got her own rebound and put up another shot before the horn went off, but it rolled out and Ohio hung on to win.

"We got the look we wanted and it didn't roll in," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "I feel bad for our kids. It was a hard-fought game on both sides. We had contributions at different times from different people and did a great job, and unfortunately we came up short."

Ohio (5-19, 3-9 MAC) led 34-32 at the half and grew its lead to seven at the 6:12 mark on a Kroll three-pointer. Sparked by a Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) layup, NIU went on a 9-2 run over the next 3:49 to tie the game at 46 on a Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) basket. The two sides then traded threes in the final minute with a Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) triple tying the game at 49-49 going into the fourth.

The Huskies took a three-point lead early in the final quarter before a Felder layup made it a 54-53 game with 7:30 to go. A Davis layup, followed by Poisson's third three of the half, put NIU up by six, 59-53, with 6:28 left. It was NIU's largest lead of the day, but Ohio quickly answered with threes from Kroll and Felder to tie the game at 59. Hunter broke the tie with a three-point play at the 4:20 mark, to which Ohio responded with an 11-5 run to take it's 70-67 lead with 0:32 left.

Ohio made four threes in the first quarter to take a 22-19 lead. The Huskies took the lead with 6:52 to go in the second quarter as Davis and Koker combined to go on a 6-2 run to put NIU up 25-24. Abby Garnett put the Bobcats back in front with back-to-back threes which gave Ohio a 30-25 edge with 5:36 to play in the first half. The Huskies closed the gap to one with 2:00 to go after layups from Marable and Davis, but were held scoreless for the remainder of the first half. Ohio took a 34-32 lead into the locker room as both teams shot 39 percent from the field.

Davis led NIU with 22 points and had a game-high 17 rebounds. It was her 16th double-double of the season and her third straight game with over 15 rebounds.

"A'Jah was huge for us today," Carlsen said. "We knew we had to do a better job of getting her touches in the second half, and we did that. She was much more aggressive as the game went on and didn't pass things up."

Poisson scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half, finishing the game 5-for-13 from the three-point line. Koker had 12 points and four assists. Felder led all scorers with 23 points for Ohio. NIU shot 42.4 percent from the field, but the Bobcats held the Huskies to 28 percent from long range. The Huskies also shot 50 percent from the free throw line, making 8-of-16 attempts.

"There were too many free points we left at the stripe," Carlsen said. "Especially on the road, in a tight ballgame, both teams are letting it all out there. We worked so hard to draw those fouls and get to the line, but we needed to have more success there."

NIU is back on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 15 when the Huskies head to Bowling Green to face the Falcons. Tip-off at the Stroh Center is set for 6 p.m. CT. The Huskies return home to the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, Feb. 18 to face Ball State in the Cram The Convo doubleheader. The first 1,000 fans in the building will receive a pair of NIU branded winter gloves, supported by Northwestern Medicine. For tickets, log on to NIUHuskies.com or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).

—NIU—