The Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team led by 12 points at halftime against the Miami RedHawks on Saturday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center, but needed a fourth-quarter rally to win 58-48.

“The response from Wednesday’s game was exactly what we needed,” said head coach Lisa Carlsen. “Our defensive intensity was better. Our work on the glass was better. We had talked about that over the last couple days, learning from the last game and putting into practice in today’s game.”

Senior guard Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) led all players with 15 points, adding six rebounds, two assists and three steals. Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) made three three-pointers for nine points. Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) had eight points off the bench as Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) added seven points, a team-high eight rebounds and three steals.

NIU (7-6, 1-1 MAC) shot 54.8 percent from the field in the first half to take a 35-23 halftime lead. The Huskies closed the second quarter on a 10-0 run over the last 3:20 seconds, with Blumenfeld scoring eight of the 10 points.

Miami (2-10, 0-2 MAC) battled back in the third quarter. Sparked by back-to-back Jadyn Scott layups, the RedHawks went on a 12-1 run over the first 7:02 of the quarter to take a 36-35 lead. NIU’s first field goal of the quarter came with 2:07 left when a Marable layup put NIU ahead 39-38. After Miami’s Lakresha Edwards and NIU’s Tara Stauffacher (Columbus, Wis./Wisconsin) traded three-pointers, Katey Richason staked the RedHawks to a two-point lead with the final three points of the quarter to put Miami ahead 44-42.

The RedHawks led 46-43 on an Amber Tretter layup with 7:38 to go in the game. That would be Miami’s last field goal for over six minutes. NIU took back the lead on a Marable jumper and McCrea three, putting the Huskies ahead 48-46 with 6:03 remaining. A Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) layup extended the lead to 50-46 at the 5:31 mark and prompted a Miami timeout. Marable’s jumper in the lane with 1:16 to play capped a stretch of 12 straight points for the Huskies, making the score 55-46.

“We had to stay composed,” Marable said about NIU’s fourth quarter comeback. “They [Miami} started to press in the second half and we knew we had to take care of the ball. We got shots that we wanted and didn’t let them speed us up.”

NIU shot 50 percent from the field in the final quarter, holding Miami to 2-for-11 from the field and 0-for-5 from the three-point arc. The Huskies finished the game shooting 43.8 percent from the field and made 7-of-18 three-point attempts. NIU held the RedHawks to 32.1 percent shooting with the 48 points allowed the fewest by the Huskies to a Division I opponent this season.

Tretter led Miami with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Edwards and Richason each had 11 points.

The Huskies go on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 10 for a matchup at Ohio. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. CT.