University of Northern Iowa
Northern Illinois
Women's Basketball Claims 71-65 Win at Northern Illinois
12/2/2009 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2009
DEKALB, Ill. – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team survived as second-half rally by Northern Illinois to claim a 71-65 victory over the Huskies Wednesday afternoon in the Convocation Center.
Nicole Clausen and K.K. Armstrong finished with 11 points and nine rebounds for UNI.
NIU's Marke Freeman notched her third career high in as many games, tallying 27 points for the Huskies (3-4).
UNI scored the first 11 points of the contest, holding NIU scoreless until Courtney Shelton knocked down a short jumper with 16:20 left in the first half. The Panthers went on to lead 20-9, but the Huskies scored eight straight points to pull within three, 20-17, with 8:02 on the clock.
The Panthers responded with six quick points to stretch their lead back to nine, 26-17. NIU narrowed the gap to five when Ebony Ellis knocked down a jumper at 2:25 to bring the score to 28-23.
K.K. Armstrong picked off a Huskie pass and took it the length of the floor to give UNI a 10-point lead, 33-23, with 1:37 on the clock.
Terriel Cannon knocked down a three with 40 seconds left to make the halftime score 33-26 in favor of the Panthers.
NIU scored the first nine points of the second half, taking its first lead of the game when Freeman scored a layup as she was fouled. The free throw gave NIU a 35-33 advantage with 16:38 to play.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Rachel Madrigal knocked down a three from the right wing on the Panthers' ensuing possession to put UNI back in front, 36-35. Armstrong found Amber Kirschbaum on the block for a layup on UNI's next trip, and Boeck knocked down a pair of free throws to stretch the Panther lead to 40-35 with 14:30 to play.
Shelton ended UNI's run with a three, but Kalin answered three seconds later to keep the Panther lead at five, 43-38, with 13:13 on the clock.
Lizzie Boeck converted another three-point play, giving UNI its largest lead of the half, 46-38, with 12:44 remaining.
Clausen knocked down her third three of the game to put UNI in front, 49-40. The UNI lead stayed between nine and seven points until NIU scored five straight to pull within four, 53-49.
Clausen connected on a pair of free throws to put the UNI lead back at six, 55-49. With UNI in front 58-51, Freeman knocked down a three to cut the UNI advantage back to four, 58-54. Clausen drained a mid-range jumper on a Panther fast break to put UNI back in the lead by six, 60-54, with four minutes remaining.
Boeck converted a short jumper to put UNI in front by eight, 62-54, with 2:50 to play. NIU scored the next three points to make it a five-point contest with 2:11 on the clock.
Neither team scored over the next minute, and NIU elected to send the Panthers to the free-throw line inside the final minute. The Panthers made nine of their 10 attempts to secure the 71-65 victory.
UNI shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the floor, including 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from three-point range. UNI was 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) from the free-throw line.
Northern Illinois shot 35.2 percent (25-of-71) from the floor, including 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from behind the arc. NIU finished 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Panthers return to action on Saturday when they play at Green Bay at 2 p.m.
