DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team had two chances in the last 23 seconds to defeat the Akron Zips, and one to force overtime, but couldn't get a shot through the basket as Akron hung on for a 61-59 win at the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day.
 
"I'm super proud of this group when it comes to the resilience that we showed in the fourth quarter," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "All coaches will tell you that the goal is always to put a full 40 [minutes] together and unfortunately for us I don't think we were able to do that."
 
Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) led all scorers with 20 points, adding 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Her 20 points tied a career-high set in NIU's win over Radford on Nov. 24. Stonebraker almost single-handedly kept NIU in the game in the second half. The senior forward scored 15 straight points for NIU, including an 9-0 run all by herself over 4:07 that cut a 12-point Akron lead down to three 52-49 with 6:14 to play.
 
Akron (7-11, 2-6 MAC) extended its lead to six at the 3:29 mark when Reagan Bass split two free throws to put the score at 55-49. Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) knocked down a three and Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) put in a layup to get the Huskies within one, 55-54, with 2:23 to play. McCrea put in a second three at the 1:45 mark that tied the game at 57. With the game tied at 59-59, Bass put in a layup to give Akron a 61-59 lead.
 
Bass, who led Akron with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, had a chance to extend the lead to four with 0:25 to go but missed two free throws to give NIU one last chance to tie or potentially win the game. Grace Hunter (Monroeville, Ind./Bellmont) missed a three with Nickel grabbing the offensive rebound. She got the ball to Marable for another three that rimmed out. Nickel got a second offensive rebound but her putback rimmed out at the horn, allowing Akron to escape with the win.
 
"Even on the last play, to have the effort that we had and the opportunities that we had, I couldn't necessarily ask for anything else from them in that moment," Carlsen said about the Huskies' final possession.
 
NIU (9-10, 3-5 MAC) got off to a fast start from the three-point line Saturday. Hunter, Kortney Drake (Wilton, Iowa/Kirkwood CC) and Tara Stauffacher (Columbus, Wis./Wisconsin) were a combined 4-for-6 from long range in the first 2:56 to give the Huskies a 12-4 lead. Akron responded with a 7-0 run highlighted by a Bass triple to get within one, but a Nickel jumper and Stauffacher's third three of the quarter put NIU back up six 17-11 with 1:32 to go in the first. The Huskies shot 41.2 percent in the opening period to take a 19-13 lead.
 
The Zips used a 9-2 run in the second quarter, capped by an Alexus Mobley three and Bass jumper, to get within one, 23-22, with 3:47 to go until halftime. NIU got the lead back up to six as a Drake three and Stonebraker layup made the score 28-22 with 2:05 left. Akron scored the final four points of the half to cut the deficit to two 28-26. The Zips' Morgan Haney opened the third by scoring eight straight points to give Akron a 34-28 lead less than two minutes into the second half. A Liisa Taponen basket and a Zakia Rasheed three capped what was a 17-2 Akron run that put the Zips up nine, 39-30, with 6:50 to go in the third.
 
"We lost our way in the third quarter a little bit defensively and let Akron get really comfortable," said Carlsen. "There's a lot of pieces of this game that we'll be able to go back and look at and hopefully learn from, and there's parts that we can look at and be proud of."
 
Following the game, NIU honored Hunter, Drake, Stauffacher and Jayde Van Hyfte (Annawan, Ill./Arizona State) for Senior Day. Stauffacher had 11 points and five rebounds Saturday. Drake made three three-pointers for her nine points. Hunter had five points, three rebounds and four assists.
 
Akron shot 42.1 percent from the field to NIU's 33.3 percent. The Huskies were 9-of-24 from the three-point arc and outrebounded the Zips 47-35. NIU had 20 offensive rebounds in the game, turning those into 16 second chance points.
 
The Huskies go on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 31 to take on Bowling Green. Tip-off at Stroh Center is set for 6 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--