Women’s basketball’s offense came out of hibernation as the Huskies picked up a win in their third and final game over Thanksgiving break.

The Huskies (2-4) lost to the Eastern Illinois Panthers, 55-46, in senior guard Amanda Corral’s return Wednesday at Lantz Arena in Charleston.

In the Lady Rebel Round-up, the Huskies dropped a 55-42 decision to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits Saturday and beat the Delaware State Hornets, 79-59, Sunday at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.

“It just comes down to confidence and believing,” said head coach Kathi Bennett in an interview shown on NIUTube. “It’s hard to shake that when you’ve been in a lull shooting and a shooting slump. The only thing that works is repetition and coming out and not playing with that fear.”

Eastern Illinois

Corral dropped a game-high 24 points on 8-12 shooting in her first action of the season. She had surgery on her left hand in the offseason and was expected to be out until mid-December.

“Just amazing,” Bennett said in an interview shown on NIUTube. “What she did was phenomenal. … I just thought she played a fantastic game.”

The other eight Huskies who took the court Wednesday combined for a mere 22 points on 9-37 shooting, with no one sinking more than two shots from the field.

Eastern Illinois’ Sabina Oroszova and Erica Brown scored 16 points apiece to lead the Panthers. NIU never led in the game.

South Dakota State

NIU’s offensive woes continued against the Jackrabbits, a perennial NCAA Tournament team.

The Huskies held the Jackrabbits, who entered averaging 69.5 points per game, to a season-low 55 points; however, the NIU offense could only muster 42 points, a season low for the Huskies.

“I don’t think we could play any better defensively,” Bennett said in an interview shown on NIUTube. “This is a team that scores 70, 80 points a game. Physically, what these kids just did and how they competed — I know it’s about winning — but man, with the people we have it was an incredible effort.”

Freshman Kelly Smith paced the Huskies with 12 points. The Huskies found their groove a little too late, pulling as close as 53-42 with 1:05 left after trailing by 29 points, 49-20, with 11:22 to play.

Delaware State

The Huskies offense came to life out of nowhere in the Thanksgiving break finale as five players scored in double figures: Corral (18), freshman Renee Sladek (15), sophomore Ally Lehman (13), redshirt senior Jenna Thorp (12) and redshirt senior Danny Pulliam (10).

NIU’s 79 points and 54.0 percent (27-50) shooting were season highs. The Huskies posted season bests in free throws made (21) and assists (19).

“I think our passing sometimes gets a little hairy, but for the most part I thought they pressured us and we ran when we should have, pulled it back when we should have,” Bennett said in an interview shown on NIUTube. “I thought we looked good in the open court and knocked down shots and executed well. Amanda shot the ball phenomenally well, but she had open looks. It was like we knocked down our shots finally. I felt good that they were good, open looks.”