Another Lisa Foss “first-half show” propelled the NIU women’s basketball team past the UIC Flames, but it was Denise Lipnisky’s 18-footer at the buzzer that iced the celebration.

The 915 fans that braved the brisk January temperatures of DeKalb witnessed Lipnisky—who has only logged four minutes of playing time all season long—sink her first bucket of the season as the Huskies doused the Flames, 96-55.

“That seemed to be the most exciting moment of the night,” NIU coach Jane Albright said with a smile. “She’s a great player. She runs (suicides) just like everybody else, then she gets her few minutes, so that was a pretty exciting moment for her.”

Foss provided most of the excitement in the opening period as she rang up 18 points on a sizzling 8-of-10 from the field. The senior All-American candidate finished with a game-high 24 points as she bypassed the double-figure plateau for the 32nd consecutive game.

UIC competed with NIU for the first five minutes of the contest. After that, it was all Huskies. NIU raced out to a 45-27 first-half advantage and never let the Flames get any closer than 16 points.

“They took it to us,” UIC coach Eileen McMahon said. “Northern runs the break extremely well. If you let down at all against them, you’re going to pay for it.”

At six feet tall, Cindy Conner ran the break as well as anyone on the floor for the Huskies. Conner tallied a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. And it was fun for the sophomore who contributed some of her success to an added incentive.

“(UIC) had a player (Shelisa Jones) on their team who played with me in high school,” Conner said. “So I was smiling because she was talking to me while I was playing.”

Once again, NIU’s depth proved its point, particularly in the paint. Tracy Mondek and Angela Lockett posted identical statistics—eight points and a dozen rebounds. In relief of Foss, Debbie Teske hit six-of-nine attempts as she tallied 15 points. And although Denise Dove only managed five points, the “unsung hero,” according to Albright, added six more assists to her NIU assist record.

“We almost had three double-double’s in the post game tonight,” Albright said. “And we outrebounded them two to one, so that was definitely a key there. We did what we had to do to win.”

With the victory, NIU moves to an unblemished 5-0 in the North Star Conference and a 12-4 mark overall.