DeKalb | Women’s basketball (0-0, 0-0 MAC) defeated St. Francis 86-54 in a home exhibition game on Saturday, giving the team its biggest win since the 2012-13 season.

Head coach Lisa Carlsen came into the season with a chance to improve the program and got off to a quick start with the 32-point win. The Huskies hadn’t beaten a team by more than 30 points since they beat Norfolk State 69-38 in 2012.

NIU led by just seven points at halftime. The team shot 48 percent in the first two quarters and dominated St. Francis in the second half , allowing just 18 second half points.

St. Francis scored 12 points in the third period and six in the final quarter. The Huskies shot 53 percent in the second half and 50 percent for the game. They went 7-13 behind the arc, bringing their game total to 53 percent.

Carlsen said she is proud of her team’s determination, never-quit attitude and its iron will to succeed.

“I think it is important to establish what we’re trying to do, who we are trying to be and feel good about that,” Carlsen said. “I think we accomplished that today.”

Sophomore forward Kelly Smith scored 22 points and 14 rebounds in the winning effort, establishing herself as one of the Huskies’ top leaders going forward.

“We all came out there being very confident,” Smith said. “My teammates got me the ball down low and I just happened to make some good shots today.”

Freshman guard/forward Courtney Woods also scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds in just 24 minutes of her collegiate debut.

“We’ve been conditioning so much lately,” Woods said. “And by the fourth quarter, the other team is not doing as hot, and we still have gas in the tank.”

Freshman guard MiKayla Voigt also made her collegiate debut on Saturday, scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds. She went 3-4 behind the three-point line, and picked up a block and two steals in the process.

“It’s awesome as a locker room to finally get that win under our belt,” Voigt said. “We’re feeling all of our hard work in practice paying off.”

The Huskies will move on for a matchup against SIUE at 5 p.m. on Friday in Edwardsville.