DeKALB —Dropping its second consecutive game, NIU women’s basketball (4-16, 2-7 MAC) fell to the Mid-American Conference-leading Miami University Redhawks(17-4, 9-0 MAC) in a 71-43 loss.
Wednesday’s home matchup against Miami marked the fifth time this season that the Huskies have failed to reach the 50-point mark in a game, scoring a season-low 43 points.
The Huskies, the lowest-scoring team in the MAC, struggled in the second half, totaling 21 points on just four made field goals to end the game.
NIU finished the contest with more made free throws, 16, than made field goals, 13.
The Huskies remained close with the Redhawks for most of the first half, trailing by just five points more than halfway through the second quarter.
An 11-2 run by the Redhawks to close the half lengthened Miami’s lead to 14 at halftime which left the Huskies unable to close the gap.
“That run was huge,” said NIU women’s basketball head coach Jacey Brooks. “They made a lot of those shots off our mistakes. It was just a huge momentum swing where if we were guarding them and making them score in different ways, that’s one thing. So the fact that they did go on that run off of our mistakes, it hurt a little bit more. It could’ve been different going into halftime down five compared to down 14.”
Turnovers continued to be a problem for the Huskies, who averaged almost 18 per game. Against Miami, NIUadded another 18 turnovers to their season total.
The turnover margin for Wednesday’s game was minus eight for NIU, with the Redhawks committing only 10 turnovers.
Graduate student guard Nadechka Laccen was the leading scorer for the Huskies in the loss, the only NIU player to finish in double figures.
Laccen went down with an injury in the first half but was able to return to the game, playing the second most minutes of anyone on the team.
The San Juan, Puerto Rico native finished the game with 11 points on 3/6 shooting from the field and 5/6 from the charity stripe.
“I tried coming back because no matter what, they need me,” Laccen said. “I’m here for my team and I just wanted to go out there and do my thing.”
Freshman guard Emilie Sorensen started Wednesday’s action with a seven-point first half on 3/3 shooting from the field and 1/1 from beyond the arc, but was limited to just 23 minutes on the court due to foul trouble.
“I think it was a combination of foul trouble and her just struggling to guard on the defensive end,” Brooks said on Sorenson’s limited minutes. “Its hard when you’re not scoring a ton to be able to give up those points. It was a tough matchup for her. But we played well where we could try and get her some mismatches to at least get her seven points. The foul trouble definitely hurt her going into that second half.”
Sorenson, NIU’s leading three-point shooter, was the only Huskie to make a three on Wednesday, draining her only attempt in the first quarter.
Junior forward Navaeh Wingate was not in the starting lineup for the first time this season, with Brooks stating Wingate’s absence from the starting five as a coach’s decision.
In 26 minutes, Wingate put up four points on 1/5 shooting while going 2/2 from the free throw line.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will play at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Convocation Center against Central Michigan University. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via SIDEARM Sports.
