Women’s basketball blown out at Miami
Akron defenders guard against redshirt senior guard Janae Poisson at the NIU Convocation Center on Feb. 8. (Summer Fitzgerald | Northern Star)
February 22, 2023
DeKALB – NIU women’s basketball (14-12, 6-9 MAC) fell short to Miami University (11-17, 6-9 MAC) in Wednesday’s competition, losing 88-67.
This was a significant loss for the Huskies as they head into the season’s final stretch with three games remaining. NIU will now attempt to make a late-season push into the Mid-American Conference tournament. They are currently tied for the fifth seed in the MAC with the University of Akron and now Miami University.
Wednesday’s game started off as a back-and-forth affair. Miami was able to extend their lead late in the first quarter, ending the quarter winning 26-15. After the run late in the first quarter, Miami held the lead for the remainder of the game.
“We were not consistently good enough on either side of the ball, especially defensively,” NIU women’s basketball head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “I thought Miami was the more aggressive team throughout the whole 40 minutes. We couldn’t consistently keep the ball in front of us.”
Late in the second quarter, the Huskies made a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to six points. The run was led by graduate guard Janae Poisson who scored seven of her 15 points during the run.
The Huskies went into halftime trailing Miami 45-36.
The game-high scorer at the half was Miami’s senior guard Peyton Scott. Scott had 17 points in 17 minutes, shooting 70% from the field.
During the second half, the Huskies made a final push in the third quarter to get the game within five points. In the fourth quarter, Miami took full control of the game, winning the quarter 24-10.
Senior forward A’Jah Davis led the game for the Huskies scoring 21 points. Senior guard Chelby Koker struggled in Wednesday’s game, only scoring 13 points and shooting 41% from the field. Although Koker had a rough shooting night, she still had six assists and six rebounds.
The Huskies will continue their MAC play at 1 p.m. Saturday when they will compete against Central Michigan University at the Convocation Center. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN3, and live stats will be available on SidearmSports.