ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team wrapped up its six-game road swing Monday afternoon with a 64-46 loss to the St. Thomas Tommies at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.

"We were getting to the rim and getting good looks but we struggled to finish," said head coach Jacey Brooks following the game. "St. Thomas blocked a couple shots early and I think we were hesitant to go at them inside. We needed to make those shots to stay in the game."

NIU (2-10) shot 31.9 percent from the field and was 12-for-17 from the free throw line. Nevaeh Wingate (Liverpool, N.Y./St. John's) led all scorers in the game with 17 points, adding a team-high seven rebounds. Teresa Mbemba (Benguela, Angola/Presbyterian) added 12 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Maria Serracanta (Sabadell, Spain/Mercer) filled the box score with seven points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The Huskies held the Tommies to one field goal in the first six minutes of the game, going up 5-4 on an Emilie Sorensen (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) three-pointer and a Wingate layup. Sparked by five straight points from Jada Hood, St. Thomas closed the opening quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 14-9 lead. NIU closed the gap to two points early in the second as Mbemba scored four straight points to make the score 15-13 with 8:39 to go. St. Thomas then held the Huskies to one field goal, a Wingate three, over the next six minutes. During that stretch St. Thomas grew its lead to nine, 25-16, after six straight free throws from Savannah McGowan, Alyssa Sand and Hood. The Tommies led 33-18 at halftime after holding NIU to 25.0 percent from the field in the second quarter.

St. Thomas (7-7) scored the first nine points of the third quarter to go up 42-18 with 4:45 to play. Serracanta ended the run with a basket at the 3:28 mark, starting a stretch that saw NIU score eight of the next 12 points to get within 20, 46-26, with 0:10 left in the third. The Huskies' best offensive stretch came in the fourth quarter. A Sa'Mahn Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) three-pointer sparked an 11-3 run over 5:22 to get NIU within 16, 53-37, with 4:05 to go. Serracanta had four points and two assists in that run. Despite shooting 50 percent from the field in the quarter, the Huskies only got as close as 15 the rest of the way.

"We needed to be the team to deliver the first blow," Brooks said. "When we missed layups in the second and third quarter it affected our defense. We showed some of that energy on the defensive end in the fourth quarter once we started finishing at the basket."

St. Thomas shot 35.5 percent from the field and was 15-for-20 from the free throw line. The Tommies scored 19 points off 22 NIU turnovers and had 17 second chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. Hood led St. Thomas with 15 points as Sand added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

NIU returns to the Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 3 to host Ball State. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. CT. Tickets are available online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).

—NIU—