Yes, the NIU women’s basketball team handled the Akron Lady Zips rather easily at the Chick Evans Field House Saturday afternoon, 79-62.

And yes, the Huskies had more rebounds, blocked shots, steals and assists than the Zips.

But there was something dull about the way the Huskies went about dissecting the lowly Zips (3-19). And NIU’s head coach Jane Albright believes it is that type of effort that will spell doom for the Huskies when they play a better team, such as Tuesday’s opponent, Northwestern.

“We would lose by about … I don’t even want to calculate what would happen if we play like this against Northwestern,” Albright said.

“Statistically, there is nothing to be ashamed of,” Albright acknowledged. “We shot average; we did okay. We won by a lot, but I was real disappointed in our personality today.”

“I don’t really think a team should be able to fluctuate between shooting 70 percent, and then shooting in the low 40s within a couple of days. That’s just concentration; that’s not skill. I think in all honesty it wasn’t a type of game I was prepared for.”

Saturday’s game was the Huskies third in five days, and Huskie players attributed their listless play to weariness.

“It seemed like we were tired,” NIU guard Debbie Teske said. “I think we were mentally fatigued.”

The Huskies had just two players score more than 10 points against Akron. NIU sank just 30 field goals out of 69 attempts. The free-throw shooting percentage was just .607, and the 3-point shooting percentage was .227.

“For us to win against Northwestern, we’ll have to pick up our intensity and concentration,” NIU guard Denise Dove said.

Although the game was a tedious one, it was also very bruising. An Akron player suffered a concussion, NIU’s Dee Dee Jeske suffered a bloodied mouth, and Debbie Teske was felled by an undercutting Zip.

“We’re young and we’re sloppy,” Akron head coach Lisa Fitch said. “My feeling, honestly, was I didn’t want to see any of Northern’s players get hurt because we play a little sloppy.”