DeKALB, IL - Three days after snapping Bowling Green's 11-game winning streak, the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team ended the Ball State Cardinals' 10-game winning streak with an 84-77 victory at the NIU Convocation Center for Cram The Convo.
 
"We beat two really good teams this week," said head coach Lisa Carlsen after the Huskies won their fourth game out of the last five. "I like where our team is at right now. We're locked in to what we need to do. It's been different people stepping up from possession-to-possession and game-to-game, and I think that's what makes us dangerous right now."
 
Senior guard Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led all scorers with 25 points, making 5-of-6 three-point attempts and 8-of-11 shots from the field overall. A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) led all players with 15 rebounds, adding 17 points for her 49^th career double-double. She is now one double-double away of tying the NIU career record of 50 set by Tammy Hinchee in 1990. Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) had a season-high 14 points with four three-pointers.
 
NIU (14-11, 6-8 MAC) broke a 56-56 tie in the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run, sparked by five straight Koker points as a McCree three made the score 64-56 with 7:50 to go. Ball State responded with a 7-2 run over the next 2:14 to get within three, 66-63, on an Annie Rauch layup. NIU then held the Cardinals without a field goal for over three minutes, during which the Huskies got the lead back up to seven when five straight points from McCrea made the score 73-66 with 3:39 left in the game. Ball State only got as close as five points the rest of the way, as NIU shot 87.5 percent from the field in the final quarter and made 11 of 14 free throws to come away with the 84-77 win.
 
"Our fourth quarter numbers are ridiculous," Carlsen said. "The ball movement has been really, really good. When you take care of the basketball and you're taking the right shots every single possession, good things are going to happen."
 
The Huskies broke a 7-7 tie midway through the first quarter with a 10-3 run, sparked by a Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) jumper and capped by a McCrea three that made the score 17-10 with 3:25 to go. The Huskies led 19-14 after the first quarter and extended the lead to eight early in the second on a Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) three that made the score 22-14.
 
Ball State (22-5, 12-2 MAC) cut the deficit in half on baskets from Ally Becki and Annie Rauch, putting the score at 24-20 with 7:11 to go until halftime. NIU then went on another 10-3 run with Koker scoring the last five points to give the Huskies an 11-point advantage, 34-23, with 5:04 left in the second quarter. The Huskies took a 14-point lead into halftime as a Poisson hook shot went off the glass and in at the buzzer to put NIU ahead 45-34. NIU shot 53.3 percent from the field in the first half with Koker scoring 20 points.
 
Trailing 51-37 5:47 to go in the third, Ball State came roaring back. Behind six points from Anna Clephane and five from Madelyn Bischoff, the Cardinals went on a 15-0 run over 4:30 to take a 52-51 lead at the 1:17 mark. Ball State led 54-53 in the final minute when NIU scored the final three points to take a 56-54 lead. NIU went back in front after forcing a Clephane jumper with 0:07 left that was missed. Davis grabbed the rebound and the Huskies got the ball all the way down to their basket where Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) was wide open for a layup at the horn.
 
"I think we had five consecutive passes," said Koker about the last basket of the third. "A'Jah got the rebound, threw the outlet to Sidney, then to me and on to Laura. It was perfect and a play like that personifies how we've played recently."
 
NIU finished the game shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from the three-point line, making 10-of-19 attempts. The Huskies also held Ball State to 6-for-20 from the three-point line, as well as outrebounded the Cardinals 33-28. Clephane led Ball State with 19 points as Becki had 14 and a game-high eight assists. With the win, NIU has now beaten each of the top-three teams in the Mid-American Conference - Bowling Green, Ball State and Toledo.
 
The Huskies are on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 22 to take on the Miami RedHawks. Tip-off at Millett Hall is set for 6 p.m. CT. NIU is back home at the Convocation Center on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. CT against Central Michigan for Senior Day. For tickets, log on to NIUHuskies.com or call the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
--NIU--