NIU women’s basketball (9-11, 3-6 MAC) collapsed in the second quarter and fell 72-54 to Bowling Green State University (11-8, 5-4 MAC). The Huskies drop to two games below .500 with their third consecutive loss.
The Huskies jumped to a 24-18 lead at the end of the first quarter, but that was quickly erased after a 22-2 second quarter in favor of the Falcons. The Huskies’ first and only basket of the quarter came with less than two minutes remaining.
“Unfortunately, it kind of got away from us,” said NIU women’s basketball head coach Lisa Carlsen. “I thought we came out, we got great shots and we were active on the offensive end, on the offensive glass, all those things. And then in the second quarter, that all went away.”
The Falcons shot 58.8% from the field on the night. The Huskies shot 37.9% with just 10 shots from behind the arc.
BOWLING OVER THE COMPETITION
Bowling Green fifth year guard Morgan Sharps led the way for the Falcons, scoring 22 points and recording 4 steals.
Bowling Green junior guard Amy Velasco played support for the Falcons, racking up 9 assists and 4 steals while scoring just 8 points.
Effective passes and aggressive play on both sides of the ball powered the Falcons, recording 18 assists as a team, stealing the ball 13 times and scoring 48 points in the paint.
ANOTHER TOUGH LOSS
The blowout loss came four days after losing to University of Akron at home by a missed buzzer-beater. Senior forward Brooke Stonebraker expressed the difficulty of Wednesday’s loss after experiencing the heartbreaker the weekend prior.
“This game was tougher because we got hit pretty hard,” Stonebraker said. “We need to go in, talk about it and see where we need to adjust defensively and offensively.”
Stonebraker was the lone standout from NIU, shooting 6-for-9 with 15 points. The 6-foot-3-inch forward has scored double-digits in six of the last seven games.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will return home to the Convocation Center Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. against Ball State University. Audio streaming is available on The Varsity Network and live stats will be found on SIDEARM Stats.
