The Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team returned from break and took down the Viterbo V-Hawks by a score of 92-44 inside the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday.

“I think there’s a lot of things to go through from those 40 minutes that we will be happy about,” head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “That first group came in and took care of things. We had a few players who had been struggling to shoot that shot well today. Those are all good things going into MAC play next week.”

Alecia Doyle (Carterville, Ill./SEMO) scored 20 points to lead NIU in just 19 minutes played. Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) scored 14.

“I think the movement of the ball created open shots for me and I like to shoot in rhythm,” Doyle said. “I was able to get good shots in rhythm today which is why they went in.”

NIU (6-5) shot 13-for-23 (56.5%) from beyond the arc in the game. The 13 three-pointers were a season-high, besting the 12 the Huskies made at Iowa on Nov. 6. NIU also set a season high in field goal percentage, shooting 31-for-57 (54.4%). The Huskies outrebounded Viterbo 47-29.

The Huskies led 43-28 at the break and put the game away in the third quarter.  Viterbo scored four of the first six points in the third to cut the score to 45-32. NIU then went on a 13-0 run and helped put the game out of reach. Doyle started the streak with a jumper before a three by Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran). That was then followed by jumpers from Brooke Blumenfeld (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), Doyle and Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio./Versailles) and Doyle. That streak pushed NIU’s lead to 58-32.

NIU outscored the V-Hawks 27-11 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 31, 70-39. NIU shot 75 percent from the field in the quarter while holding Viterbo to 0-for-6 from long range. McCrea made two of the Huskies’ three threes in the quarter in the final two minutes to put NIU up 31, 70-39. The Huskies held Viterbo to one made field goal in the fourth quarter to pull away for the 48-point win.

Viterbo (10-3) got on the board first with a free throw from Emily McCurdy. The V-Hawks then led 3-2 and 5-4 before the Huskies claimed the lead and didn’t relinquish it over the final 36 minutes. McCurdy and Nicole Johnson led Viterbo in scoring with six points.

With the game all tied at five, Doyle drained back-to-back three-pointers with assists from Koker and McCrea. A V-Hawk three was then matched by Koker before Doyle sunk a pair at the line to extend NIU’s lead to 16-8 with 3:31 left in the first. Viterbo cut that lead to six before an eight 8-0 run, capped off with three pointers from McCrea and Koker, gave the Huskies a 24-10 lead after the first quarter.

The Huskies opened the second quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 34-14 lead with 5:03 to go until halftime. Doyle had six points in that stretch with Stonebraker adding the other four. The V-Hawks cut the lead to 15 on a Lauren Goettl layup at the 3:24 mark, but Lexi Carlsen (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) scored five straight points to give NIU a 41-21 lead with 2:29 remaining until halftime.

NIU is back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 1 when the Huskies travel to take on Toledo as they open Mid-American Conference play. Tip-off at Savage Arena is set for 3 p.m. CT.