University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Northern Illinois
Panthers Fall 71-64 to Northern Illinois
12/2/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2010
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team erased an 11-point second-half deficit to take a two-point lead but could not hold on in a 71-64 loss to Northern Illinois Thursday night in the West Gym. K.K. Armstrong tallied 10 points for UNI. Boeck led UNI with six rebounds, and Amber Kirschbaum collected five. Marke Freeman shot 8-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free throw line to finish with 30 points and 12 rebounds for Northern Illinois. The Panthers (3-3) shot just 24.2 (8-of-33) from the floor in the first half, while the Huskies (5-3) connected on 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) first-half attempts to take a 34-27 lead into the break. After an NIU free throw gave the Huskies an eight-point advantage, Boeck, Kalin and Katelin Oney scored on consecutive trips to pull the Panthers within two, 35-33. The Huskies put their lead back at four, 39-34, but Boeck hit a three to cut the Panther deficit to one, 39-38 with 16:27 to play. Freeman answered with a three on NIU's next possession to return the Husky lead to four. Boeck knocked down layups on back-to-back trips to tie the game at 42-42 with 14:38 remaining. Kalin connected on a pair of free throws to cap a 6-0 UNI run and give the Panthers their first lead of the game, 44-42. With UNI in front 46-44, Freeman hit a three and a jumper on two straight trips to give the Huskies a three-point edge. Armstrong drained a three on the Panthers' next trip to tie the game, 49-49 with 11:55 to play. NIU scored the next five points, but Kalin scored on two consecutive trips to cut the Northern Illinois lead to one, 54-53 with 8:26 to play. A Freeman jumper extended NIU's lead to three, but Boeck hit a three at 6:33 to tie the game for the sixth time, 56-56. NIU scored four points over the next minute to take a 60-56 lead. Boeck converted a pair of free throws to cut the Panther deficit to two with 5:10 to play. The Huskies scored the game's next four points, extending their lead to 64-58 with 3:22 remaining. The Panthers cut the NIU lead to three twice, including when Oney hit a layup to bring the score to 67-64 with a minute on the clock. Kalin collected a defensive rebound, giving UNI the ball with a chance to tie the game with 33 seconds remaining. The Panthers were unable to get off a shot, however, turning over the ball with 14 ticks left on the clock. Freeman was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the game's final 14 seconds to seal the win for NIU. The Panthers shot 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor, including 5-of-25 (20 percent) from behind the arc. UNI finished 15-of-20 (75 percent) from the free-throw line. NIU shot 23-of-39 (59 percent) from the floor, including 4-of-5 (80 percent) from three-point range. The Huskies finished 21-of-24 (87.5 percent) from the free-throw line. NIU held a 36-24 rebounding advantage. The Huskies turned the ball over 19 times, while the Panthers committed a season-low eight turnovers. The Panthers return to action on Saturday when they play at UW-Milwaukee.
