BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Led by 19 points from forward Mauvolyene Adams, five Northern Illinois women's basketball players scored in double figures in an 85-67 loss at Bowling Green, Tuesday.
With the win, the Falcons improved their home record to 11-0 and advanced to 8-1 in Mid-American Conference play (18-5 overall). NIU fell to 8-13 overall, with a 2-7 record in the MAC.
Bowling Green hit 8-of-9 shots early in the game to build a 20-10 lead. Northern Illinois pushed back with a 9-2 run on the strength of back-to-back three-pointers by Courtney Shelton and Terriel Cannon. The burst cut the lead to three, 22-19, but the Falcons scored 12 of the game's next 14 points to build a 13-point lead.
"We had our moments where we cut [the lead], but their scoring power is really good," NIU coach Carol Owens said.
NIU would again trim the advantage to single digits, reducing it to seven with 3:34 left in the first half, but BGSU closed out the period with seven unanswered points to enter the locker room with a 43-29 lead.
BGSU center Tara Breske hurt the Huskies with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the opening period. Breske's three rebounds helped the Falcons outscore Northern Illinois 12-2 on second-chance points over the first 20 minutes.
"In the first half we gave them 10 offensive rebounds," Owens said. "We didn't do a good job of boxing out."
At the break, BGSU held a 23-14 edge on the boards, including a 10-2 margin on the offensive glass. For the game, NIU was outrebounded 41-33.
"We let them get too many offensive rebounds in crucial minutes," Owens said.
