DeKALB – The Northern Illinois women's basketball team insisted Wednesday's noon tipoff had nothing to do with a slow start.
But after a poor first four minutes, the Huskies spent the rest of Wednesday's eventual 71-65 loss to Northern Iowa at the Convocation Center playing catchup with a team that wouldn't slow down enough to get caught.
The Panthers (2-4) jumped out to an 11-0 lead as NIU (3-4) missed its first four shots, including two layups, and committed five turnovers before Courtney Shelton's jumper at the 16:24 mark.
"I just don't think our intensity matched theirs," NIU guard Marke Freeman said. "Starting the game, as starters, we've got to be ready to go out the gate and we've got to initiate it. But we pretty much sat back and let them do what they wanted to do and then reacted."
The game started at noon because of a promotion with area elementary schools. About 800 kids came on a field trip to watch the game and go through some educational programs before the game.
"This is around the time we come to the gym anyway to practice," Freeman said. "So there's really no excuses. We've got to be ready to go at practice."
NIU coach Carol Owens felt like her team was trying to dig itself out of a hole for the entire game and there was no reason for the slow start.
The Huskies did come back in the second half, cutting the Panthers' lead to four on a three-pointer by Brittney Callahan and a layup by Freeman. But two fouls, a turnover and a missed Freeman jumper put NIU back in a seven-point deficit.
The sequence of coming back and then getting behind just as quickly is a major part of the inconsistency the Huskies have struggled with in the early part of the season.
"We've just got to be smarter," Owens said. "We've got to be smarter and understand the game and managing the game and being on the same page with the five on the floor."
The Huskies again got within five several times in the final minute, but couldn't get it any closer. Freeman scored 16 of her career-high 27 points in the second half, but the Huskies missed too many inside shots – Mauvolyene Adams and Ebony Ellis combined to go 7 for 24 – to get the game to within one possession.
"We had some defensive breakdowns and then we could never get over the hump of changing the momentum of the game," Owens said.
