Friday's Women's Basketball Results
Northern Illinois 49, SIUE 30
UC Irvine 75, Bowling Green 50
Story Courtesy of Northern Illinois Athletic Communications
Northern Illinois 49, SIUE 30
Box Score
DeKALB, IL - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team held the SIUE Cougars to 30 points and under 20 percent shooting from the field in a 49-30 win at First Community Arena Friday night.
"It feels awesome, it feels great," said head coach Jacey Brooks after earning her first win at NIU. "It's a little weight off my back. I'm super proud of our team. This was going to come at some point, and we stayed the course. The team trusted the process of what we're doing and we were able to put three-and-a-half quarters together and got the win."
The Huskies held SIUE to 3-for-37 from the field in the last 30 minutes of the game and 0-for-13 from long range. The 30 points allowed are the fewest by any NIU opponent since holding Concordia Chicago to 32 on Dec. 30, 2023. It's also the fewest points allowed by NIU against another NCAA Division I opponent since becoming an NCAA program in 1982. Friday night's game was the fifth time in the Division I era the Huskies held an opponent under 40 points.
NIU (1-4) fell behind 7-0 in the first 2:02 of the game, then got five straight points from Nadechka Laccen (San Juan, Puerto Rico/St. Bonaventure) to get within two at the 6:32 mark. SIUE closed the quarter on a 10-2 run with a Lauren Miller layup in the last minute putting the Cougars up 17-7. SIUE shot 50 percent from the field in the first quarter but that would quickly change.
The Huskies held SIUE without a field goal for the entirety of the second quarter. NIU opened the quarter on a 9-0 run, capped by a Maria Serracanta (Sabadell, Spain/Mercer) three-pointer, to get within one at 17-16 with 5:14 to go until halftime. The Cougars only scored two points in the quarter as Ava Gugliuzza made two free throws at the 1:31 mark to give SIUE a 19-16 lead. Nevaeh Wingate (Liverpool, N.Y./St. John's) tied the game with a three-pointer with 0:34 left to make it 19-19 at the interval. SIUE was 0-for-12 from the field in the quarter.
"We talk about it everyday that we have to be able to defend," Brooks said. "If we can defend a team in the half court, I like our chances. Your defense has to be a must because there are going to be nights like tonight where your offense doesn't flow and you only score 49 points. You're not going to outscore anybody when you don't play defense. I'm really super proud of their effort tonight."
NIU took its first lead of the game early in the third as an Emilie Sorensen (Waukee, Iowa/Waukee) layup broke the 19-19 tie. The lead grew to seven late in the quarter when a Wingate layup and a Sa'Mahn Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) three-pointer made the score 29-22. Miller cut the lead to five with 0:08 left SIUE's second field goal of the quarter, making the score 29-24. NIU held the Cougars to 2-for-13 from the field in the third and 0-for-5 from long range.
The Huskies saved their best offensive quarter for last. After SIUE scored the first three points of the quarter to cut NIU's lead to two 29-27, Wingate sparked a 7-0 run that put the Huskies up by nine 36-27 with 4:56 to play. SIUE only got as close as six points the rest of the way. NIU closed the game on a 13-0 run over the last four minutes with Johnson scoring seven of those points to put away SIUE 49-30.
Laccen led all scorers with 17 points, adding five rebounds and two assists. Johnson scored a season-high 14 points off the bench and also had five rebounds. Wingate had her first career double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. NIU outrebounded SIUE 45-39 and held the Cougars to 19.6 percent shooting from the field.
SIUE (3-2) was led in scoring by Kiyoko Proctor's 11 points.
