Women’s basketball (10-10, 6-4 MAC) picked up its fourth-straight win as it beat the Akron Zips (17-5, 7-4 MAC), Saturday at the Convocation Center.

How it happened

The Huskies trailed by as many as 15 points, 51-36, with 8:38 to play before they began their largest comeback victory under fifth-year head coach Kathi Bennett.

Senior guard Amanda Corral said she still remembered the Huskies’ defeat to the Zips last season and wasn’t going to let them win again in DeKalb. She scored five points as part of a 14-0 Huskies run that pulled NIU within one point, 51-50, with 2:59 remaining.

The Huskies and Zips traded 3-pointers before Akron scored its final two points on a pair of free throws, bringing the score to 56-53. Corral took over in the final 1:19, scoring the last nine points of the game on a 3-pointer, a layup and four free throws.

The number: 36

That’s the number of points the Huskies scored in the second half against the Zips, 10 more than they scored in the first half. NIU outscored Akron 36-29 in the second half after trailing 27-26 at the half.

Northern Star players of the game

Sina King, Akron senior guard/forward, netted a team-high 17 points on 7-18 shooting (38.9 percent) to go along with six rebounds and one steal in 34 minutes.

NIU senior guard Amanda Corral scored a game-high and career-high 31 points on 9-18 shooting (50 percent), including 3-4 (75 percent) from beyond the arc and 10-11 (90.9 percent) from the charity stripe. She scored 20 of NIU’s final 32 points.

The quotes

“What a great win for us,” Bennett said. “How the team stayed together, … they never quit and good things happened. I could tell at the timeout that Amanda [Corral] wanted the ball in her hands. When you get that look you have to try and feed it. We rely on Amanda a lot; she’s our catalyst.”

“I think it’s just the shots that come to me and I take them,” Corral said. “If the ball comes to me and it’s an open shot I’m shooting it.”

Up next

The Huskies close their three-game homestand when they take on the Western Michigan Broncos (15-7, 8-3 MAC) 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Convocation Center.