FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team lost its fourth consecutive game on Sunday afternoon, scoring a season-low 44 points in a 67-44 loss to the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons at Memorial Coliseum.

Freshman guard Emilie Sorensen (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) led all scorers with 17 points, making a season-high five three-pointers. She also had four rebounds. Nevaeh Wingate (Liverpool, N.Y./St. John's) added nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Maria Serracanta (Sabadell, Spain/Mercer) led NIU with seven rebounds.

NIU (2-8) grabbed the early lead on a Nadechka Laccen (San Juan, Puerto Rico/St. Bonaventure) layup 1:11 into the game, but the Mastodons wrested the momentum away with a 14-0 run over the next 4:41. Alana Nelson and Jordan Reid combined for nine points in that stretch for Purdue Fort Wayne. Sorensen's first three of the game with 3:09 remaining in the opening quarter snapped the Mastodons' run and got the Huskies within nine, 14-5. The Mastodons shot 53.3 percent from the field in the first and took a 20-7 lead.

The Huskies were a perfect 5-for-5 from the three-point line in the second quarter but played Purdue Fort Wayne to a 17-17 tie in the period which allowed the Mastodons to take a 37-24 halftime lead. Wingate made the first three of the quarter to make the score 20-10. Sorensen followed by going 4-for-4 from the arc over the last 7:34 of the first half, scoring the last 12 points for NIU.

Purdue Fort Wayne (8-4) extended its lead to 16 with 5:25 to go in the third quarter as a Nelson three-point play put the Mastodons up 44-28. Sorensen then sparked a 6-0 run with a basket at the 5:06 mark, with layups by Serracanta and Sa'Mahn Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) getting the Huskies back within 10 44-34. The two sides traded baskets for the rest of the quarter as a Lili Krasovec jumper putting the Mastodons up 50-38 going into the fourth. The Mastodons ran away in the fourth quarter, using a 14-2 run to take a 64-40 lead with 1:38 to play.

The Huskies shot 40.9 percent from the field but turned the ball over a season-high 26 times, leading to 18 Purdue Fort Wayne points. The Mastodons also had 17 second chance points off of 19 offensive rebounds.

"It's disappointing how much we turned the ball over today," said head coach Jacey Brooks. "We knew Purdue Fort Wayne was going to be aggressive, they average 19 forced turnovers a game. They played their game and we didn't match it. We put two quarters together, but we know in order to win it has to be four."

Krasovec led Purdue Fort Wayne with 16 points as Nelson had a double-double of 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

NIU opens Mid-American Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 20 at Central Michigan. Tip-off at McGuirk Arena is set for 12 p.m. CT with the game broadcast on ESPN+ with the radio broadcast on NIUHuskies.com.

—NIU—