DeKALB — The women’s basketball team (14-5, 7-1 Mid-American Conference) defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes (10-10, 4-4 MAC), 93-72, Wednesday at the Convocation Center.

“We did a great job of sharing the basketball and enjoying [our pace] and enjoying what we do,” Head Coach Lisa Carlsen said. “Anytime we get like that, we are a lot to handle.”

Five Huskies had points in double figures headlined by sophomore guard Mikayla Voigt with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Senior guard Ally Lehman and freshman guard Janae Poisson added 16 points for the Huskies. Sophomore guard and forward Courtney Woods scored 15 points while junior forward Kelly Smith had 12 points.

Both teams started off the game slowly but things began to connect for NIU in the third quarter. Each Huskie on the court was ready to run and give up the ball to make the extra pass. Kent State was not able to keep up with the Huskies’ pace of play in the second half.

Carlsen said she thought pace was the key to this game and that the Golden Flashes were unable to contain the Huskies once they got in their comfort zone.

NIU out-hustled the Golden Flashes early in the second half which resulted in a 19-point lead, 55-36, with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Huskies ended the third quarter strong, 37-21.

The win marked the season sweep for the Huskies as they defeated Kent State, 98-97, Jan. 11 in Kent, Ohio.

Carlsen said the team has a lot of tough upcoming conference games, and the team needs to be ready.

“This group is confident that we can step on the floor with anybody, be competitive and have an opportunity to win,” Carlsen said. “The first half of the MAC season has been good for us so hopefully the second half will be just as good.”

The second half of the season begins with the Ball State Cardinals (14-6, 7-1 MAC), leaders of the MAC West division, and have a half-game lead over the Huskies.

“We are going to continue to try and play at the pace we want to play and continue to stay focused,” Carlsen said.

The game against Ball State will be 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Muncie, Indiana.

Danielle Brown is a staff writer. She can be reached at [email protected].