And the final score from Chick Evans Field House … NIU 76—Valparaiso 39.

Wait a second.

That’s the final score for the FIRST HALF.

“I think that (first half) was pretty much a phenomenon,” NIU coach Jane Albright said. “I can’t put into words how to describe that first half.”

Even one fan shouted from the crowd, “Are we only playing one half tonight?”

The Huskies scored early and often Tuesday night in the first half en route to the official final score of 122-86 in the Huskies’ favor. The 122 points mark a new NIU women’s single-game scoring record.

The Crusaders left the fieldhouse in bad shape. The 76 points they gave up in the first half were four points shy of the all-time women’s scoring mark for a half. To the Crusaders credit, they did outscore the Huskies in the second, 47-46.

“We didn’t have the steals in the second half,” Albright said. “In the first, we controlled every move we made.”

Enough credit. The Huskies did everything else to delight the 1,311 fans on hand for Fan Appreciation Night. Carol Owens hit 13-of-17 from the floor and led all scorers with 31 points. Lisa Foss was a bucket behind with 29. Dee Dee Jeske came off the bench to chip in 15 and Tammy Hinchee added 13 points, but ripped down a career-high tying 17 rebounds.

It seemed only fitting that Hinchee led all rebounders because the senior received framed photos of her rebounding domination during the halftime intermission—denoting her record-breaking rebound that came at the University of Akron. With the 17 boards, Hinchee upped her career-leading total to 1,049.

Denise Dove came up with 12 points and nine assists, leaving her three assists away from becoming NIU’s all-time assist leader. Even freshman Julie Gainer got into the act as she stole an inbounds pass at the end of the first half and converted on a six-footer, as the fans and the bench jumped to their feet.

“It was great to win at home,” Carol Owens said. “It was our day to give something back to the fans.”

The blowout made the cake and coffee provided for the fans after the game taste that much sweeter.

“I think it was a well played game by all 12 players,” Dove said. “The fast tempo was definitely a game for the fans and it was fun to play in.”

Getting back to the first half, the Huskies not only put the points on the board but they played some good defense on the floor. NIU forced 23 turnovers from the Crusaders and added 12 steals. In the process, the Huskies held Valpo’s leading scorer, Debbie Bolen, to just 12 points. The freshman phenom tallied 27 the last time the two teams met.

“We frustrated Bolen,” Albright said. “We were very focused, and I can’t be more proud of them.”

The win puts the 22nd ranked Huskies (in both the AP and USA Today Polls) record to 21-4 overall and 10-0 in the North Star Conference. The victory also assures the Huskies of the top seed in the NSC tournament that follows the season and puts them a step closer to an NCAA berth.

“We are top seed in the tournament and we want the rest,” Albright said. “Now, I think that they got one thing on their mind. Before every game I go into that lockerroom and write NCAA up on the board, but at the beginning of the year I would write the name of the team that we played. It’s fun, on Feb. 20th to be able to look realistically at a dream that you’ve all had and think that it’s staring at you.”