DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team came back from a 10-point halftime deficit Wednesday night to defeat the Buffalo Bulls 56-53 at the NIU Convocation Center on Senior Night.
 
"I'm super proud of our effort and our resiliency tonight," said head coach Jacey Brooks after NIU's second straight win. "We stuck to the gameplan and came together in tough moments. We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to make some defensive plays in the fourth quarter to get the win."
 
Nevaeh Wingate (Liverpool, N.Y./St. John's) led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, going 9-for-13 from the field and 8-for-12 from the free throw line. It's the highest scoring game by a Huskie this season. She also had a team-high seven rebounds and four steals. Wingate scored 18 of her 27 points in the second half, including 12 in the final quarter to finish off the comeback.
 
"We work really hard in practice and it showed tonight," Wingate said after the win. "Coach Brooks told me to step it up, and I took that and did what I needed to do and help my teammates get the win."  
 
Buffalo (3-26, 1-16 MAC) held NIU to 22.2 percent from the field in the second quarter to turn a 13-12 lead into a 30-20 halftime advantage. The Huskies were down 36-29 midway through the third when Wingate sparked a 10-2 NIU run over 3:51 to get the deficit down to one, 38-37, with 2:27 to go in the quarter. Emilie Sorensen (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) and Nadechka Laccen (San Juan, Puerto Rico/St. Bonaventure) each had four points in that stretch. A Paula Lopez three at the 2:07 mark put Buffalo back up by four, but the Huskies scored the next five points to take a 42-41 lead with 9:30 to play in the fourth quarter.
 
NIU's (7-22, 4-13 MAC) first six points in the fourth quarter were scored by Wingate as the Huskies went up 46-44 with 7:14 to play. The Bulls responded with a 9-2 run over the next 2:48 with a Meg Lucas layup giving Buffalo a 53-48 lead with 4:26 to go. That would be the Bulls' last field goal and points of the game. Wingate made her only three-pointer of the game with 3:28 remaining to cut the deficit to two, 53-51. Laccen then got a steal and went end to end to tie the game at 53-53. NIU took the lead with 1:07 left as Maria Serracanta (Sabadell, Spain/Mercer) found Wingate under the basket for a layup to put the Huskies up 55-53.
 
Wingate split two free throws with 0:10 left to make the score 56-53. Buffalo had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds but Aniya Rowe's last-second three fell short.
 
The Huskies shot 53.8 percent from the field in the second half, going 14-for-26 from the field with 22 points in the paint.
 
"We spread the floor in the second half to create some gaps to get us to the basket," Brooks said. "The team executed that and got us some open looks which got us some more points in the paint."
 
NIU had 16 assists on its 21 made field goals. Serracanta had nine assists in the game with only two turnovers. Sorensen and Laccen both finished the game with 10 points.
 
Prior to the game NIU honored its five seniors – Laccen, Serracanta, Reagan Barkema (Story City, Iowa/Bradley), Marta Hermoso (Seville, Spain/McNeese) and Teresa Mbemba (Benguela, Angola) – along with senior managers Anna Cox, Nadia Buford and A'Marie Senior.
 
The Huskies wrap up the regular season at Bowling Green on Saturday, March 7. Tip-off at Stroh Center is at 1 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--