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| Northern Illinois junior forward Mauvolyene Adams (center) tries to keep the ball away from Central Michigan defenders Britni Houghton (12) and Kaihla Szunko (right) during the first half of Wednesday night’s game at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb. The Huskies lost, 89-74. (Beck Diefenbach – bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com) |
DeKALB – Mauvolyene Adams missed a layup with 5:39 left in the second half against Central Michigan on Wednesday night.
For the time being, that will be the last recorded game action for the Northern Illinois forward.
Adams was pulled from the game and was not on the bench for the final five minutes of the Huskies' 89-74 loss to Central Michigan at the Convocation Center.
"It's a team decision," NIU coach Carol Owens said. "I'm not going to go into detail about it, but it was a team decision that she was no longer on the bench."
Asked if Adams would play in NIU's next game on Saturday at home against Buffalo, Owens replied, "I don't know."
Already without forward Ebony Ellis because of a foot injury, the Huskies (7-10, 1-4 MAC) are essentially down to one post player in freshman Shaakira Haywood.
Adams went 1 for 10 from the field against the Chippewas (6-11, 3-2 MAC) but it was on the defensive end where the Huskies struggled throughout the second half.
Central Michigan got to the free-throw line time and again in the second half, making 22 of 24 freebies. The free throws were set up by Central Michigan guards Shonda Long and Heidi Warczinsky consistently penetrating NIU's defense and then dishing the ball off to forwards Kaihla Szunko and Britni Houghton.
"I think we got caught up in our individual assignments, concentrating a lot on our individual matchups, so sometimes the help side wasn't there," NIU guard Sarah Rogers said. "I think it's something we do good in spurts, we just need to do it consistently, that's all."
The Huskies held a 53-49 lead at the 10:38 mark of the second half, but Long was fouled on a three-pointer and made all three to cut the lead to one. The Chippewas went on a 19-7 run to pull away for good.
"Very disappointed in this loss," Owens said. "I thought the game was decided on the defensive end for us. I just thought we didn't have the defensive intensity like we needed to and for that, it cost us."
The loss marked the fourth in the past five games for the Huskies and closed out their first time through the MAC West teams.
"We're disappointed," Owens said. "We're disappointed in the loss and we have to bounce back. Now we have to go and start playing against the East [division teams]. We've got to regroup."
Whether or not that includes Adams will remain to be seen.
