BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team nearly erased a 15-point halftime deficit in the third quarter Saturday night at Stroh Center, getting within one point but the Bowling Green Falcons pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 74-60 win.

"We felt at halftime like most of our problems were self-inflicted," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "Because of that, we had the ability to get back in the game if we just cleaned things up on our end. We took care of the basketball better in the third. I'm really proud of our fight and resilience the entire second half and if we give that type of effort every game we're going to see positive results."

Trailing 39-24 at the half, NIU (7-10, 1-5 MAC) opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run. Lexi Carlsen (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) started the rally with a three and Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) put in the last four to make the score 39-34 with 7:07 remaining, prompting a Bowling Green timeout. The Falcons got a three-point play from Amy Velasco at the 6:43 mark to go up 42-34. The Huskies then went on another run, once again sparked by a Carlsen triple. The freshman's three with 6:16 left started a 9-2 run that got NIU within one as a Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) basket made the score 44-43 with 3:26 left in the third.

Bowling Green (9-8, 3-3 MAC) held NIU to one basket for the remainder of the quarter. A Paige Kohler three started a 9-2 Falcons run that put the hosts up 53-45 going into the fourth. That run extended into the final quarter as a Johnea Donahue layup and another Kohler basket put Bowling Green ahead 57-45 with 8:33 to play. NIU scored the next five points on a Koker three-point play and a Carlsen drive to the basket with 7:27 left to put the score at 57-50. However, that would be as close as the Huskies got. Bowling Green scored seven of the next eight points, with four from Erika Porter, to go up by 13 64-51 with under five minutes to go.

The two teams traded baskets early with a Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) three-pointer tying the game 8-8 with 3:17 to go in the first quarter. Bowling Green held NIU to one more field goal for the remainder of the period, with a Lexi Fleming three-pointer capping an 8-2 run that put the Falcons up 16-10. The Huskies closed within five at the 6:04 mark of the second as baskets from Koker and Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) made the score 23-18. Fleming responded with the first five points of an 11-2 run over the next 3:57 that put the Falcons ahead 34-20.

Koker led all scorers with 16 points, going 7-for-14 from the field. She also had five rebounds, five assists, four steals and a blocked shot. Carlsen and Doyle each had 14 points with Carlsen adding four rebounds and four assists. Doyle scored in double figures for the first time in five games.

"It was great to get her going again," Carlsen said of Doyle's game on Saturday. "She adds a lot to our team offensively. We knew we had our hands full tonight and Alecia gave us what we needed."

The Huskies shot 45.1 percent from the field and was 7-for-18 from the three-point line. Bowling Green shot 45.8 percent for the game, made nine threes and was 11-for-14 from the free throw line. Fleming and Kohler each had 15 points to lead the Falcons, who moved to 6-1 on the year on the home floor at Stroh Center.

NIU is back on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 22 to take on Eastern Michigan. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. CT.

—NIU—