Emotional can barely describe the NIU’s women basketball 70-63 win over Buffalo on Saturday.

The passion was high on the court with less than three minutes remaining, as NIU guard Marke

Freeman found an open spot in Buffalo’s zone defense. The sophomore drained a three, giving the Huskies a four point lead.

But, with 1:14 remaining in the game, Bull’s guard Rachelle Matthys hit a 3-pointer of her own.

The shot cut NIU’s lead down to three. That’s when Buffalo decided to take a timeout.

The Huskies faced a similar position to this earlier in the season. NIU held a four point lead over Bowling Green with less than two minutes left. The Falcons were able to force turnovers and poor shots from the Huskies in the final minute of play. This allowed them to tie the game, with Bowling Green pulling out a victory in overtime.

Learning from this experience, NIU (13-11 overall, 8-3 MAC) was determined not to make the same mistakes.

“When they called a time out we talked about our defense and what adjustments to make,” said NIU head coach Carol Owens. “We didn’t have to rush to make the shot. We just had to get the ball across half-court.”

The Huskies followed their plan to perfection. Able to get the ball across the half-court consistently, NIU forced Buffalo (5-19, 1-10) to foul. In the last minute of the game, the Huskies took eight shots from the free throw line, converting seven of the free shots.

Overall, NIU made 23 of 28 shots from the charity strip. A majority of these shots came in the second half, as the Huskies only took two free throws in the first half.

NIU forward Mauvolyene Adams led the pack with 16 points and was 4-4 from the free throw line. Huskie guards Freeman and Kylie York also reached the double-digits, scoring 15 and 11 points respectively.

For the second straight game, NIU forward Aileen Rossouw continued to provide depth off the bench. The redshirt senior scored 13 points in the win, and went 8-11 from the free throw line.

But Saturday’s game was also emotional not just because of the way NIU won the game, but also for another reason. The women’s basketball team was the only athletic contest to take place on the anniversary of the tragedy on the campus of NIU.

While students, professors and administrators attended memorials, the Huskies had to play a game.

“We talked about that before the game. We knew everyone was solemn back at home,” Adams said. “We just wanted to represent our university well.”

Owens echoed her player’s sentiments saying that her team wanted to dedicate this game to the entire Huskie family.

“I think emotionally it was hard. It was hard on me,” the head coach said. “We wanted to dedicate this game to the Huskie family. The victims were in our hearts in this emotional game.”