DeKALB | Women’s basketball (2-1) fell short, 83-79, against the Western Illinois University Leathernecks (3-1) to record its first loss of the season.

The Huskies led the game 77-73 with less than a minute remaining in the second half when the Leathernecks went on an 8-0 run fueled by a defensive effort from Michelle Farrow, Western Illinois junior guard, who recorded two steals and hit two free throws with six seconds remaining.

Freshman guard Janae Poisson hit a pair of free throws to cut the Leathernecks lead to two with three seconds remaining in the game.

The freshman’s effort would fall short as Emily Clemens, Western Illinois junior guard, solidified the Leatherneck victory when she hit a pair of free throws to finalize the 83-79 win. Clemens scored 34 on 10 of 14 shooting to lead Western.

“We were obviously careless with the basketball,” said Head Coach Lisa Carlsen, according to NIU Media Services. “Those are things we have to learn from and continue to get better at. Let this be something to learn from and help us grow going forward.”

The Huskies finished the game outrebounding the Leathernecks 52-31, but Western led in other key categories as its bench outscored NIU 30-10 and dominated the paint outscoring NIU 36-24.

Four players reached double figures in scoring for the Huskies, including Courtney Woods, sophomore guard and forward, who finished as NIU’s leading scorer with 20 points on 7 of 15 shooting.

Senior guard Ally Lehman finished with 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, and sophomore guard Mikayla Voigt finished with 12 points in 39 minutes of play. Senior forward Cassidy Glenn finished with 17  points for the Huskies on 6 of 16 shooting and a career high 11 rebounds.

“You can just look at the stat sheet,” Carlsen said. “It tells a story. We didn’t take care of the basketball the way we needed to. We knew coming in that Western [Illinois] was going to be really aggressive as far as trying to get [its] hands on the ball, and we couldn’t be soft. At times we were soft, and that led to too many opportunities for them. There were times that our initial defense was OK, but anytime you don’t give yourself an opportunity to shoot on the other end, it makes it a rough afternoon.”

The women’s team looks to bounce back at home as they play 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Convocation Center against Chicago State University. The team will remain home at 6 p.m. Friday to take on Illinois State University.