Women’s basketball (0-1, 0-0 MAC) dropped its season opener on Friday in a 93-67 blowout loss to SIUE (1-0, 0-0 OVC).

The Cougars outscored NIU in all four periods of the game, holding it to less than 20 points in two of them. They led by just five points after the first period but opened a big lead in the second.

The Huskies scored just 11 points in the second quarter but actually shot a higher percentage from the field in the first half. They shot 46 percent versus 45 for SIUE. Much of the Cougars’ lead was due to a large advantage at the free throw line — they shot 13-14 on free throws in the first half while NIU shot just 1-2. SIUE also shot well from the 3-point line, going 6-10 and leading 47-31 at halftime.

SIUE outscored NIU 22-16 in the third quarter, pushing its lead to 22 points. The Huskies’ shooting dropped significantly in the second half, going just 12-39 from the field and 1-11 from three. The Cougars shot over 50 percent in the second half, hitting another 13 free throws and shooting 37 percent from three.

The Huskies crossed the 20 point mark for the second time in the final quarter but it wasn’t enough to escape the big deficit they faced. SIUE kept things rolling throughout the half, finishing out the 26-point barrage.

“We got beat, and we were outplayed by a good team tonight,” said head coach Lisa Carlsen, according to an NIU Athletics news release. “We knew going into the game that SIUE was going to be physical, and I knew we had to try and match that. They played a lot less tentative than we did and I thought that was the biggest difference tonight. That really put us in a hole early, and that’s difficult to overcome especially on the road. This will be a good teaching tool and good lesson for us moving forward.”

Sophomore forward Kelly Smith led the Huskies with 16 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes. Senior forward Natecia Augusta followed behind her with 14 points of her own on 6-13 shooting, snagging four rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes. Junior guard Ally Lehman picked up 11 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes, snagging two blocks and two assists in the losing effort. They were the only three players who scored in double figures for NIU.

Junior guard Shronda Butts led all Cougars with 17 points and eight assists in 29 minutes. Freshman Donshel Beck put up 13 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 5-11 from the field in 31 minutes.

NIU was able to win the rebounding battle, edging SIUE 41-38. The Cougars hit just three more shots than the Huskies but 14 more free throws and six more threes, giving them a 32-point advantage in those two fields alone.

The Huskies next test will come against Wisconsin Lutheran as they face off at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Convocation Center.