DeKALB – NIU women’s basketball (13-14, 6-9 MAC) fell to the University of Toledo Rockets (22-4, 14-1 MAC) 74-61 in it’s last home game of the season.
Fifth-year guard Sophia Wiard paved the way for the Rockets, scoring 16 points and dishing out 6 assists. Toledo had three other players score in the double-digits, including fifth-year guard Quinesha Lockett with 14, senior guard/forward Nan Garcia with 14 and senior guard Khera Goss with 11.
“You saw why Toledo’s the best team in the league,” said NIU women’s basketball head coach Lisa Carlsen. “They are a lot to handle at all five spots. I thought they shot the ball particularly well from three.”
Toledo finished the game shooting 42.9% from three, in comparison to NIU’s 28%. The Huskies’ left the first half 6-for-13 from three, but went cold in the second half going 1-for-12.
“When we started the game both teams were loving it from the perimeter and had a lot of success there,” Carlsen said. “From an efficiency standpoint, I wish we were better, but I thought offensively we got some pretty good looks.”
Senior guard Jayden Marable led the Huskies with 19 points. Marable also recorded 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
“I just gotta help my teammates out,” Marable said. “Offensively, I knew that I just had to be aggressive and try to look to create.”
Senior forward Brooke Stonebraker put the first points on the board for the Huskies, swishing her second three-pointer of the entire season. Stonebraker dominated the first quarter with 9 points, but went scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Toledo and NIU went back and forth to start the game with nine lead changes in the first quarter. The first quarter remained close, resulting in a 21-21 tie going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter NIU and Toledo continued trading blows until Marable sank a three-pointer with under three-minutes remaining, putting the Huskies up 31-28. Following Marable’s three-pointer, a three-point play from Lockett and a pair of Rocket three-pointers gave Toledo a 37-33 lead going into halftime.
The Rockets came out of halftime hot with a 12-2 run early in the third quarter. Toledo went on to run away with the lead, outscoring the Huskies 23-12 in the third quarter and going into the fourth up 60-45.
Senior forward Tara Stauffacher sank NIU’s first three of the half in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit. A layup from Garcia with 34 seconds remaining cemented the Rockets’ 74-61 victory.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will face the University of Akron next at 2 p.m. CT Saturday in Akron, Ohio. Streaming will be available through ESPN+ and live stats will be available on SIDEARM Stats.
