DeKALB – At the close of a turbulent 2024-25 season, four NIU women’s basketball players took the court at the Convocation Center for the last time on Wednesday against the University of Toledo Rockets.
Graduate student guard Chelby Koker – the longest-tenured member of NIU’s lineup – is one of the departing Huskies. Koker commented on the significance of her final game in DeKalb, noting the bond the team has formed.
“Being here (NIU) 6 years and being with Sid (McCrea) 5, and just watching the other girls come up and grow, and I think there’s really no other bond that you could ask for playing at NIU,” Koker said in between tears.
After spending multiple years as the core of the team, Koker, alongside graduate student forward Brooke Stonebraker, redshirt senior guard Sidney McCrea and senior guard Laura Nickel all played in front of a home crowd for the last time.
“We don’t have enough time to talk about how important they’ve (NIU’s departing athletes) been,” said NIU women’s basketball head coach Lisa Carlsen. “You know, they’re leaving with eight degrees between the four of them. So you know what they’ve been able to kind of put their mark on? As far as this program is concerned, it goes far beyond what they’ve done on the court.”
After upsetting the Rockets in their first matchup on Jan. 1, NIU failed to rekindle its New Year’s Day magic, falling to Toledo by a score of 79-70.
“I thought that we continued to fight all the way in which I’m really proud of,” Carlsen said. “I was really proud also of our seniors. I thought they did a great job of making sure that the last game they play here at home, they left it all on the floor.”
With wins by Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University, NIU (13-16, 6-11 MAC) has officially been eliminated from postseason contention, failing to meet the eighth-seeded requirement of a playoff berth in the MAC.
Toledo (22-6, 13-4 MAC) sits comfortably within the top-three of the MAC after previously clinching a spot in the postseason.
Toledo won behind a dominating effort in the paint, out rebounding the Huskies 36-31, 13-5 offensively. The Rockets also took care of the ball better than the Huskies, committing 10 turnovers compared to NIU’s 18.
Aside from those discrepancies, NIU was lethal from behind the arc. The MAC-leading team in three-point percentage shot 50% against Toledo, compared to the Rockets’ 31.6%.
Koker coordinated the Huskies’ scoring efforts, contributing a game-leading 24 points. Fueled by 63.6% shooting from the field, Koker provided timely scoring to combat Toledo’s scoring effort.
Heading into her final game, Koker reflected on the ups and downs of a six-year career.
“The biggest thing is just learning from whatever happens,” Koker said. “My time at NIU hasn’t always been the smoothest, just with injuries and losses where we felt like we shouldn’t have lost, but we also had some great, great, amazing moments where, you know, we came together and we won the game.”
Coming off the bench, McCrea was another key contributor for NIU. McCrea finished as NIU’s second-leading scorer with 12 points.
As another long-standing member of the team, McCrea commented on the culture NIU’s upperclassmen have cultivated.
“First and foremost, I know that everybody in our locker room is going to fight and nobody’s going to give up and I think our younger kids have really bought into that,” McCrea said. “It’s something that we as upperclassmen and as seniors have really tried to instill, you know, starting when we get together as a team in the summer, we’re gonna fight, you know, whether that’s through overtime, through the final buzzer, whether we’re up 20 or down 20, you’re gonna see that same attitude.”
McCrea was also a pest defensively, swiping a game-high 4 steals.
Toledo graduate student guard/forward Sammi Mikonowicz led Toledo in scoring, contributing 19 points. Mikonowicz also tacked on 7 rebounds and 1 steal.
FIRST HALF
Toledo was hot from three-point range in the opening half of the first quarter, knocking down three consecutive triples to gain an early 9-2 advantage. Forcing 3 turnovers, the Rockets maintained the lead for the entirety of the first quarter, leaving the opening frame with a 19-15 lead.
After a back-and-forth start of the second quarter, the Rockets pulled away midway through and gained a nine-point lead. Toledo kept its foot on the gas, ultimately going into halftime with a 38-31 lead,
Despite entering the midway break fighting an uphill battle, Koker tormented Toledo through the first two quarters with a game-high 14 points.
SECOND HALF
Toledo kept its grip on the lead after halftime while the Huskies’ offense struggled to get in a rhythm. The Rockets began to pull away late in the frame, sparking an 11-0 run to take a 59-41 lead with just over a minute left in the third quarter.
Koker dampened Toledo’s scoring efforts with a run of her own, scoring five consecutive points in the last minute to trim the Huskies’ deficit to 59-46 heading into the final 10 minutes.
The fourth quarter was back-and-forth, with NIU and Toledo continuously trading blows. The Huskies were most competitive in the fourth, outscoring the Rockets 24-20 throughout the frame.
Despite NIU’s late-game scoring effort, it was not enough to overcome Toledo’s lead. As the Huskies resorted to fouling, the Rockets were able to dribble the ball out and secure the nine-point victory.
UP NEXT
The Huskies tip off for the last time this season at noon Saturday against Miami University (OH) in Oxford, Ohio. Streaming for the game is available through ESPN+ and live stats will be provided by SIDEARM Sports.
