Women’s basketball (5-7, 1-1 MAC) entered winter break with a winning record (4-3), but one win in its past five games has it back below the .500 mark.

The Huskies closed out non-conference play with losses at South Dakota State, vs. Northern Iowa and vs. Illinois Chicago. They opened 2014 and conference play with a victory vs. Ohio before failing to complete a comeback at Toledo.

NIU opened winter break play with a road meeting against South Dakota State on Dec. 17 at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D. The Huskies hung with the Jackrabbits for the first 32 minutes and trailed 51-44 at the under-eight media timeout.

However, NIU stumbled into foul trouble and a scoring drought, and South Dakota State closed the game on a 16-6 run. The Huskies fell, 67-50, to the Jackrabbits, and their two-game win streak came to an end.

Following the loss, the Huskies returned home to host Northern Iowa on Dec. 21 at the Convocation Center. The Huskies led by as many as 11 points and didn’t trail until the Panthers took a 64-62 lead on a pair of free throws with 35 seconds to play.

NIU responded with a Natecia Augusta layup that tied the game, 64-64, with 24 seconds to play, but a Panthers’ layup with 2.7 seconds left sealed the NIU loss, 66-64. The Huskies lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and suffered their first home loss in three games.

NIU closed out 2013 and its non-conference schedule with a Dec. 31 matchup against Illinois-Chicago at the Convocation Center in DeKalb. The Huskies’ only lead of the game came after an Alexis Lindstrom 3-pointer put the Huskies up 26-25 with 4:47 to play in the first half.

The game remained within single digits until the Flames started to pull away in the last three-plus minutes. The Flames shot 87 percent (27-31) at the free-throw line as NIU committed 24 fouls, the majority coming in the second half. With the loss, the Huskies’ slide hit three games, and NIU closed out non-conference play with a 4-6 record and a 2-2 home record.

Looking to get back in the win column, the Huskies opened conference play with a home meet against Ohio on Jan. 4 at the Convo. NIU jumped out to a 2-0 lead and didn’t trail until Ohio went ahead 24-23 with five minutes to play in the first half. The Huskies regained the lead 45 second later with a Jazmine Harris jumper and never looked back.

The Huskies’ lead ballooned to as wide as 23 points, and they downed the Bobcats, 74-51. The win moved the Huskies to 5-6 overall and 1-0 in conference play. It was their first conference-opening win since January 2009.

Danny Pulliam (17), Harris (15), Amanda Corral (12), Ally Lehman (11) and Augusta (11) became the first quintet of Huskies to score in double figures since NIU had six players score 10-or-more points on Nov. 16, 2011, against Western Illinois.

The Huskies had a chance to even their record at 6-6 and improve to 2-0 in conference play when they traveled to Toledo on Jan. 9. NIU held a brief lead in the opening minutes, but a 14-0 Toledo run put the Rockets ahead for good.

Toledo controlled the tempo and pace for 30-plus minutes but allowed NIU to hang around. The Huskies, once trailing by as many as 18 points, outscored the Rockets 25-10 in the final nine-plus minutes. NIU had a chance to force OT in the final seconds, but a layup by Pulliam wouldn’t go in after rolling on the rim and hitting the backboard.