LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team wrapped up the 2022-23 season on Sunday afternoon, falling 71-56 to the UIC Flames in its final game of the Women's Basketball Invitational at the Clive M. Beck Center.

Senior forward A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) recorded her 54th career double-double in her final game as a Huskie. Davis led NIU with 17 points and 17 rebounds for her 23rd double-double of the season. She finishes her NIU career as the program's all-time leader in double-doubles and second all-time with 1,048 career rebounds. Davis also holds the NIU single-season records for rebounds and double-doubles.

"It was a gutsy performance from A'Jah today," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "She went out and played her last game as a Huskie with a lot of determination and grit and gave us everything she had."

It was also the final games for seniors Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) and Emily Meinert (Galesburg, Ill./Parkland College). Poisson had six points, two rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. She finishes her career with 1,268 points and is fourth all-time at NIU with 254 career three-pointers. Meinert had two points and an assist in 15 minutes on Sunday.

UIC (19-17) shot 43.8 percent from the field in the first quarter to build a 21-12 lead. The Huskies had just one field goal in the last four minutes as the Flames got threes from Tiana Jackson and Kristian Young to close the quarter and put UIC up by nine. The Huskies closed the gap to six with 6:15 to go in the second quarter when a Tara Stauffacher (Columbus, Wis./Wisconsin) three made the score 25-19. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the half as a Davis layup in the final minute made the halftime score 31-25.

NIU (16-17) fell behind by 13 with 5:57 to go in the third when a pair of Jackson free throws capped an 8-2 UIC run that put the Flames ahead 44-31. The Huskies responded with an 11-4 run over the next 5:26 seconds to get as close as six, 48-42. Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) started the charge with a layup in the lane and Davis followed with seven straight points. UIC scored the last two points of the quarter on a Josie Filer basket to take a 50-42 lead going into the fourth.

The Huskies closed the gap to four early in the third, when threes from Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) and Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) made the score 52-48 with 7:23 to go. Hunter's triple would be NIU's last field goal for over six minutes. Sparked by a Filer layup and a three-pointer from Young, UIC went on a 19-4 run over 6:24 to take a 71-52 lead.

"UIC is a really good defensive team, and they made it difficult for us on every catch," Carlsen said. "They did a great job on the glass. They're defense forced to take a lot of tough shots and we didn't get great looks at three. We needed to rebound better, especially in the  first half, and keep them out of the lane."

NIU was just 3-for-15 from the three-point line on Sunday, finishing the game shooting 38 percent from the field. The Flames shot 39.1 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Huskies 42-31. Filer led all scorers with 22 points and added six rebounds for UIC.

"Nobody is going to be able to take away the fact that we beat some teams that are still alive in the postseason," said Carlsen. "We had wins against Ball State, Bowling Green and Richmond that are all still in the WNIT. We beat the Mid-American Conference champions Toledo who won their first NCAA Tournament game. That's something this program can hang their hat on. Our seniors have put us in a position of understanding and raising the expectations of this program, along with all they've done statistically, and those are things I'm really proud of."

—NIU—