The Northern Illinois University women’s basketball team fell on the road by a score of 73-48 in Mid-American Conference action against Kent State on Sunday night. NIU trailed by just one after the first quarter but could not come back after being outscored in the second quarter 25-8 and trailing 37-19 at the break.
NIU (8-7, 2-2 MAC) was led in scoring by Brooke Stonebraker (Versailles, Ohio/Versailles) with 15 points. Stonebraker came up just short of the double-double with a game high nine rebounds. Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) added 13 points for NIU.
“I thought our fight out of the locker room was good, but we let them get a few easy ones and they’re tough to guard,” head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “I think Kent State’s best asset is they make it tough to score. They have a lot of length and we really struggled with that tonight.”
The Huskies struggled shooting on the night as they shot 27.8 percent from the field.
Kent State (10-4, 4-0 MAC) took an early 8-2 lead. Grace Hunter’s (Monroeville, Ind. / Belmont) three-pointer sprung a nine-point NIU run as the Huskies took an 11-8 lead. The Golden Flashes added the last four points of the first quarter to take a 12-11 lead.
In the second quarter, baskets by Stonebraker, Laura Nickel (Marshall, Wis./Marshall) and Marable scored allowed the Huskies to keep pace as Kent State led by two, 19-17, with six minutes to play before the half. Kent State then scored the next 16 points to lead 35-17 and almost doubled the Huskies up by halftime at 37-19.
“There’s got to be a consistent fighting mentality for 40 minutes,” Carlsen said. “Then it has to be up to us as coaches from an x’s and o’s standpoint to put the team in a position to win.”
Throughout the second half NIU was unable to significantly cut the lead as the Golden Flashes maintained a double-digit lead en route to the final margin.
Four players reached double figures for Kent State, led by Katie Shumate with 16, while Jenna Batsch and Bridget Dunn added 15 points each. The Flashes shot 48.4 percent from the field, including 9-of-14 in the decisive second quarter.
The Huskies will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan.17 as they take on the Buffalo Bulls at 6 p.m. inside the NIU Convocation Center. Tickets are available online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets, by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) and at the box office on game day.