NIU struggled to win its second road game of the year, but the women’s basketball team’s head coach, Jane Albright-Dieterle, was pleased with the Huskies 82-72 victory against Wright State Saturday at the Nutter Center.

“I think we played really hard for a road game,” Albright-Dieterle said. “We had good shot selection. Our press worked again.”

At intermission, the game was tied at 43. At 12:40 of the second half, Huskie guard E.C. Hill hit a 12-footer to put her team up 55-54.

The Huskies (8-5) committed 25 fouls, which Albright-Dieterle said kept WSU in the contest.

“We fouled too much,” Albright-Dieterle. “We have to learn to play good defense and not foul.”

NIU forward Angela Lockett came off the bench to score 21 points and grab 10 rebounds, both game highs. Hill and Cindy Conner scored 13 points each, while Dianna Wingis added 12.

The win put the Huskies at 3-0 in North Star Conference play. The Huskies play conference foe Valparaiso tonight at 7 p.m. in Chick Evans Field House. The Lady Crusaders (9-5, 1-1) are coming off a 76-67 home loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay Saturday.

“This will be our eighth game in the toughest stretch of our season,” Lady Crusaders’ head coach Dave Wolter said. “In that stretch, we’re 4-3.

“We’re pretty balanced. We’ve got a lot of things going for us.”

One is junior Debbie Bolen, the team’s leading scorer. The

-10 guard had the most assists (seven) and points (15) in the Wisconsin-Green Bay game.

“She, by far, makes them go,” Albright-Dieterle said.

“I know they are a very high-scoring team. We want to defend their break. We don’t want to see who can outscore who.”