DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team rallied from eight points down Wednesday night to the UIC Flames to take a 52-49 lead in the fourth, but the Flames made a late run to come away with the 69-66 win at the NIU Convocation Center.
"Any time you have a one to two possession game you are going to look back at the consistency and the attention to detail at times," said head coach
Lisa Carlsen. "There were a few times where we felt like we could have been better maximizing our lead and minimizing their stretches. I think we are trending in the right direction and getting better."
Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) led the Huskies with 16 points, adding three rebounds and four assists.
Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) added 12 points off the bench.
NIU (3-3) opened the game on a 12-3 run, highlighted by a pair of
Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) threes, in the first 5:16. The lead grew to 11 at 17-6 after a Koker three-pointer and a Blumenfeld layup with 2:03 left in the opening quarter. The Huskies led 21-14 with 4:50 to go in the second when a Makiyah Williams layup started a 9-0 UIC run that put the Flames ahead 23-21 with 0:56 left until halftime.
Lexi Carlsen (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) gave NIU a 24-23 lead with a three on the next possession but UIC's Jalysa Stokes answered with a three of her own to give the Flames a 26-24 halftime advantage.
UIC (1-3) shot 53.3 percent from the field in the third quarter and built a 49-41 lead with 23 seconds left. McCrea made two free throws in the final second to get the Huskies within six, 49-43 and sparking a run that put NIU ahead. NIU scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter, starting with a
Shannon Blacher (Burr Ridge, Ill./Montini Catholic) tip-in and a Koker three to get the Huskies within one.
Kiylynn Dawkins (Beaverton, Ore./Western Oregon) put NIU up 50-49 with her layup off of a
Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) assist at the 6:13 mark. Dawkins scored again with 5:17 left to give the Huskies a 52-49 lead.
The Flames then held NIU without a basket for almost three minutes. UIC got three-point plays from both Keimari Rimmer and Sandra Frau-Garcia in an 8-0 run that put the visitors ahead 57-52 with 4:04 to play.
Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) got the Huskies within three, 59-56, with 2:18 to go but the Flames stretched the lead back out to seven with under two minutes to play.
NIU shot 38.7 percent from the field but was just 6-for-21 from the three-point line. UIC shot 45.5 percent from the field and held a 38-36 rebounding edge. The Huskies forced 19 turnovers and scored 12 points off of those. Stokes led all scorers with 17 points as Williams added 15.
"I think we had some pretty good looks from three," Carlsen said. "The right people took the right shots and we just need to be more efficient. We have been shooting the three better and it was just one of those nights. We needed to shoot it better in a night that comes down to one or two possessions."
The Huskies go on the road on Saturday, Dec. 7 to take on the Missouri Tigers. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. CT.
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