Women’s basketball (4-3) has found itself in unchartered territory after its Thursday win.

The Huskies defeated the Illinois State Redbirds (1-5), 57-52, at the Redbird Arena in Normal. With the victory, they recorded their first road victory in four opportunities, won back-to-back games for the first time this season and are over .500 for the first time since they were 2-1 last season.

NIU led the Redbirds 45-36 with 10:20 to play, and neither team scored until there was 5:29 remaining. An offensive onslaught from the free-throw line ensued, and the Huskies used free throws to ward off a strong close by Illinois State.

Redbirds junior forward Brianna Puni hit a pair of free throws at 5:29 to break the drought. The Redbirds drew the score within two twice, 48-46 and 50-48, but never got any closer to the lead.

After having their lead cut to 50-48 with 1:41 to play, the Huskies went to the free-throw line 11 times in the final 1:30. They made seven of their 11 free throws, including six from redshirt junior guard Danny Pulliam.

“One of them [my assistants] said we weathered the storm, and I felt like that’s what we did tonight,” said head coach Kathi Bennett. “Every time they made a run, we either made a free throw or got a random basket here and there and just held them at bay.”

Pulliam finished with a career-high 16 points on 3-of-5 shooting and shot 10-of-15 from the free-throw line, including 8-of-10 in the final 3:49. She added four assists, two rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes.

The Huskies shot 44 percent (20-of-45) from the field, while the Redbirds shot 35 percent (19-of-54). Illinois State drained 74 percent (14-of-19) of its free throws, while NIU hit 62 percent (16-of-26).

The Huskies outrebounded the Redbirds, 37-34, and scored more bench points, 16-2. The game featured a combined 34 turnovers and a combined 46 personal fouls.

The Huskies trailed by six points, 10-4, at the 15:19 mark. From there they used a 16-4 run to go ahead 20-14 with 3:35 left to play in the first half.

After giving up 10 points in the first 4:41, the Huskies held the Redbirds to nine points the remaining 15-plus minutes. They led by as many as 11 points in the first half and held a 28-19 lead over the Redbirds going into the half.

“I thought we defended really well and followed the scout,” Bennett said. “We switched ball screens, which we normally don’t do, and were able to not get hurt by it where they exposed our guards on their bigs, and I just felt like that was a huge deal for us, so definitely happy.”

The Huskies will play their final non-conference road game on Dec. 17 at South Dakota St. They then close non-conference play with a pair of home matchups against Northern Iowa on Dec. 21 and Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 31.

NIU will open conference play against Ohio on Jan. 4 at home, travel to Toledo on Jan. 9 and then return home to face Eastern Michigan on Jan. 12.