"Our offense was great and we got in a good flow in the second half," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following Saturday's victory. "If you look at our last few games, we've had success with the pace within our offense. We did a great job adjusting and getting back to what we needed to do. We needed to get A'Jah [Davis] the ball and it all rolled from there."
Junior forward A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) led all players with 23 points and 13 rebounds, scoring 10 points in the third quarter to key NIU's comeback. It was her 10th straight double-double and 21st of the year. Nia Ahart (Detroit, Mich./Colgate) had 14 points with Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) adding 11 points and three steals. Jayden Marable (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) each had 10 points.
Trailing 31-26 at the half, NIU (13-13, 10-8 MAC) opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run. Ahart's three at the 7:27 mark capped the run which gave the Huskies their first lead of the day, 35-33. Ball State took back the lead when a Thelma Dis Agustsdottir three-pointer put the Cardinals up 38-37. The Huskies answered back with a Marable jumper and Poisson three to go up 42-38 with 5:09 left in the quarter. Those five points sparked an 18-5 NIU run to close the quarter. Poisson and Davis combined to score 13 of the 18 points as the Huskies took a 55-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
NIU's lead grew to 17 early in the final period as a Marable jumper and McCrea three made the score 60-43 with 8:48 to play. The Huskies took their largest lead of the game with 6:10 remaining when Mikayla Brandon (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) put in a layup with an assist from Davis to give NIU an 18-point lead, 66-48. Ball State used a 9-0 run midway through the quarter to get within nine, as six straight points from Ally Becki made the score 68-59 with 3:54 to go. The Cardinals only got as close as five points the rest of the way as NIU made its free throws down the stretch to come away with the 77-72 win.
"All the people that have stepped into new roles are getting more and more confident on the floor," Carlsen said. "We've seen the maturation of Jayden, A'Jah continues to be A'Jah, and people are coming off the bench and making plays. Sidney was able to do that today with her three three-pointers. A confident team is a dangerous team, especially this time of year. When we're the best version of us, we're a tough team to compete against."
NIU got on the board first with a Marable jumper at the 8:26 mark of the opening quarter, but Ball State responded with an 11-0 run capped by a Marie Kiefer three-pointer at the 5:12 mark. The Cardinals made five threes in the opening quarter with a Thelma Dis Agustsdottir triple putting Ball State up 17-9 with 1:59 left in the first. The Huskies scored the final four points of the quarter to cut Ball State's lead in half, 17-13.
Ball State (16-11, 9-8) grew its lead to seven with 8:56 to go in the second on Agustsdottir's second triple of the day, putting the Cardinals up 22-15. NIU then went on a 7-0 run, highlighted by a Sidney McCrea three, to tie the game at 22 with 5:27 left in the first half. The Cardinals quickly took the lead back, getting a Kiefer layup and Estel Puiggros three to go up 27-22 at the 4:14 mark. Davis then scored four straight points to get the Huskies within one, 27-26, with 2:07 left until halftime. The Cardinals got baskets from Kiefer and Puiggros to take a 31-26 lead at halftime.
The Huskies shot 50.9 percent from the field in the game, bolstered by a 70.6 percent third quarter. Ball State shot 43.5 percent from the field and made 13 three-pointers. NIU outrebounded the Cardinals 37-28, with Brandon adding 10 rebounds to Davis' 13. Agustsdottir led Ball State with 20 points as Becki had 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
NIU goes on the road Wednesday, March 2 to take on first-place Toledo at 6 p.m. The Huskies wrap up the regular season at the NIU Convocation Center on Saturday, March 5 against Central Michigan at 1 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225).
—NIU—
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NIU Comes Alive In Second Half For 77-72 Win At Ball State - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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