DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team erased an eight-point halftime deficit Sunday afternoon against the St. Thomas Tommies to tie the game at 56-56 early in the fourth, but the Tommies made the plays down the stretch to come away with a 75-68 win.
 
"You have to give St. Thomas a lot of credit," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "They really took it to us early. I was proud of how we continued to fight back and we had a good third quarter to get back in it. We don't want to put ourselves in that position where we have to play from behind."
 
Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) led NIU with 18 points and seven rebounds, scoring 14 points in the second half. Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) also had 14 in the second half, finishing with 15 points. Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) had 12 points and seven rebounds with Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Wis./Versailles) adding 10 points and five rebounds.
 
NIU (1-2) trailed 35-27 at halftime but came out of the locker room with a flourish. The Huskies started the quarter on a 7-2 run getting baskets from Stonebraker, Blumenfeld and Doyle to get within three, 37-34, with 7:09 to go. After a Sammy Opichka layup put St. Thomas up by five, Blumenfeld scored five straight points to tie the game at 39 at the 5:32 mark. Doyle gave NIU its first lead of the game with 5:05 left in the third as her first three-pointer of the day put the Huskies up 42-41. The lead changed hands six more times in the quarter, with a Stonebraker triple putting the Huskies ahead 54-52 with 0:33 left before an Alyssa Sand basket tied the game 54-54 going into the fourth.
 
St. Thomas (3-0) opened the final quarter on a 7-3 run with a Jade Hill three-point play putting the Tommies up 61-57 with 6:17 to play. The two teams traded baskets for the next 3:40 as a Nickel layup got NIU within two, 67-65, with 2:37 left. That would be as close as the Huskies would get. The Tommies went 6-for-6 at the free throw line to come away with the 75-68 win.
 
"I don't think St. Thomas did anything we were not prepared for, but we have to be better from an execution standpoint at both ends of the floor," Carlsen said. "We will get back to work on the fundamentals that cause you to win or lose in tight games like today."
 
The Tommies opened the game on an 11-1 run in the first 3:31, getting three straight three-pointers from Opichka and Faith Feuerbach. St. Thomas shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first quarter to take a 22-10 lead. The Huskies held St. Thomas to 31 percent in the second quarter, using a late 6-0 run from Nickel and Lexi Carlsen (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) to get within seven at 34-27.
 
NIU shot a season-high 51.8 percent from the field after making just 4-of-12 shots from the field in the opening quarter. The Huskies made 4-of-8 three-point attempts while holding the Tommies to 6-for-25. NIU also held a 34-31 rebound margin. Hill led all scorers with 21 points.
 
The Huskies are next in action on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Chicago State. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
 
--NIU--