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| NIU's Sarah Rogers looks to shoot in the first half during their game against Kent State on Saturday at the Convocation Center in DeKalb. (Rob Winner – rwinner@daily-chronicle.com) |
DEKALB – It seemed like the NIU women’s basketball team couldn’t get anything to go its way during the second half of Saturday’s 80-71 loss to Kent State.
After the Huskies (8-12, 2-6 MAC) led 34-23 at one point in the first half and took a 36-31 lead into the half, both teams looked completely different in the second half.
“I think in the first half we came out with intensity and a lot of energy. We got off to a great start,” NIU guard Marke Freeman said. “Coming out of the locker room in the second half I don’t think we had that same energy. We came out just flat. They kind of just changed the momentum of the game.”
NIU was outscored 49-35 in the second half as Kent State (13-7, 6-2 MAC) shot better, rebounded better, and was able to the free throw line more.
“Sometimes in the first half our defense transitioned into offense,” NIU head coach Carol Owens said. “(The second half) they got in transition and pushed the ball and had us on our heels.”
The Golden Flashes shot 68 percent from the field after halftime, compared to just 34 percent in the first half. Jamilah Humes led the way for Kent State with 33 points, with Taisja Jones finishing with 20.
“In the second half I felt like they had us on our heels, the momentum changed,” Owens said. “They got good rebounds, they drove to the basket, they found each other in transition. I think it was just a change in who was the aggressive team in each half.”
Kent State was able to go 3-for-5 from three-point range in the second half after shooting just 3-for-11 from beyond the arc in the first.
“I thought our effort was a little bit better (in the second half),” said Kent State coach Bob Lindsay, the MAC’s all-time wins leader. “I’ve been talking to our team, especially lately, about winning the battle of effort before we start worrying about anything else. I didn’t think we did that in the first half, I thought we were outplayed in the first half. But in the second half I thought we did a much better job with it.”
Marke Freeman had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies. Mauvolyene Adams finished with 14 points, while Kylie York added 13. Sarah Rogers had seven points and 10 rebounds.
Lindsay liked what he saw from Freeman, who was averaging 21.7 points per game in MAC play entering Saturday’s contest.
“Marke Freeman was especially good in this game,” Lindsay said. “Marke’s really hard for us to guard. Her quickness is really, really tough to guard. She’s tough.”
