The Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team could not match the three-point shooting of the Missouri Tigers on Saturday afternoon, falling 94-55 at Mizzou Arena.

“We knew Missouri’s length was going to be a factor today,” said head coach Lisa Carlsen. “We had to contain their three-point shooting and handle their press. We talked about trying to keep the ball out of the paint, which we did a good job of initially. When they started shooting the three like they did it made it really difficult for us to defend.”

Missouri (9-3) shot 50 percent from long range, making 14-of-28 attempts. NIU made just 4-of-17 three-point attempts with Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) and Lexi Carlsen (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) each making two. Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) led the Huskies with 14 points off the bench. Doyle had 12 points as Carlsen scored a season-high 10.

After Missouri’s Ashton Judd made a three for the first points of the game, NIU went on a 6-0 run to take a 6-3 lead at the 7:26 mark. Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) got the Huskies on the board with 8:53 to go in the first, followed by jumpers from Doyle and Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran). The Tigers scored six of the next eight points as layups from Angelique Ngalakulondi and Laniah Randle put Missouri up 9-8 with 6;07 left in the opening quarter. Blumenfeld responded with her first two of the game to give NIU a 10-9 lead with 5:33 to play, but Missouri closed the quarter on a 16-2 run to go up 25-12.

NIU (3-4) cut the deficit to eight in the first minute of the second quarter. A Carlsen three and a Stonebraker jumper made the score 25-17 with 9:04 to play in the first half. The Tigers responded with a 12-2 run over the next 2:59, with eight points from Grace Slaughter, to take a 37-19 lead with 6:05 to go in the second quarter. Missouri led by as much as 26 before Carlsen’s second three of the half made the halftime score 53-30.

Doyle scored eight of the first 10 NIU points in the third quarter, making two threes to get the Huskies’ within 24 64-40 at the 4:23 mark. That was as close as NIU would get in the second half. Missouri shot 50 percent from the field in the second half, including 6-for-14 from the three-point line, to pull away with the 94-55 lead.

“There were spurts where we did a good job of sharing the basketball, especially when we got it into the paint,” Carlsen said. “This is one of those games that you’ll back on, understanding you’re not going to face a team like Missouri again, and be able to take things from going forward.”

The Tigers shot 52.4 percent from the floor and were 14-for-17 from the free throw line. NIU shot 44.4 percent from the field, including 7-for-10 in the second quarter. Missouri outrebounded the Huskies 37-27 and scored 29 points off 17 Huskie turnovers. Slaughter led all scorers with 20 points as Judd had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Following final exams, NIU returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 15 to take on Indiana State in the Eastern Kentucky MTE at the Clive M. Beck Center in Lexington, Ky. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. CT.