Eight of 12 non-conference games this season were on the road for the women’s basketball team.

NIU head coach Carol Owens planned her schedule this way. The plan: teach her team how to play on the road early in the season. While every win and loss matters, wins and losses in the MAC mean more.

Owens was willing to sacrifice a couple bumps early in the season, if it got her team results in conference play.

So far, it seems the plan has worked, as the Huskies beat Ohio 67-59 on the road on Saturday. NIU (10-9 overall, 5-1 MAC) is now 2-1 in conference when on the road.

Yet, the win was bittersweet for Owens. Before the game, the coach received word that women’s basketball coaching legend Kay Yow had lost her battle with cancer. Yow was 66.

“I was just thinking about how she was a competitor,” Owens said. “She would have wanted us to compete. Our kids were inspired.”

Thinking of Yow, the Huskies were able to score 67 points, 38 coming from guard Jessie Wilcox and center Ebony Ellis. Wilcox went 5-12 from behind the arc, scoring 19 points. The senior also dished out a team-high five assists and produced four steals.

Ellis produced a double-double in the win, scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 boards. The sophomore got 10 of her rebounds off the offensive glass.

NIU forward Mauvolyene Adams also was crucial in rebounding, bringing down 11 boards too. Overall, the Huskies collected 44 rebounds, 22 off the offensive glass. Defensively, NIU held Ohio (7-11, 3-3) to 33 rebounds.

Coming into the game, the Bobcats led the MAC, averaging 40.8 rebounds per game. They also led the conference in limiting opponents to only 32.9 boards per contest.

“That’s the biggest thing,” Wilcox said. “We’re not going to make all our shots. But if we have offensive rebounds and players that can finish off in the inside you have to choose who you want to guard.”

Ohio did make a run in the beginning of the second half, coming within two points of NIU. The Huskies, however, were able to pull away.

“I just kept saying we needed to stay poised,” Wilcox said. “They were the ones that had to get a basket.”