After an emotional week of practicing and preparing, Wednesday’s game surely wasn’t a let down.

After a game winning-shot attempt by Western Michigan didn’t get off before the buzzer, the Convocation Center erupted.

The Huskies ran into a circle hugging each other and jumping up and down with emotions running wild.

And as the players walked off the court, the fans delivered a standing ovation for the victorious Huskies.

“To have the fan support and just the support of the community through all of this was amazing,” NIU guard Jessie Wilcox said. “Winning alone as a team is one thing, but winning together with fans and the community is another.”

In similar fashion to the men’s basketball game on Tuesday, players and coaches from both teams formed a circle at midcourt for a moment of silence before the game.

“At times it was hard to fight back tears from what I was feeling at that time,” NIU head coach Carol Owens said about her feelings during the moment of silence. “I just grabbed the team and said ‘You’ve earned this, you’ve worked hard. Just fight for 40 minutes,’ and they did.”

A run by NIU at the end of the first half provided an emotional spark for the Huskies. They came out fired-up during the second half, starting with a 12-3 run.

Throughout the rest of the second half, the fans kept cheering and hoping for a Huskies victory.

And in emotional style, NIU delivered.

“I’m so proud of how [the team] handled the whole situation,” Owens said. “I feel like we’ve taken on the whole NIU family. If we hadn’t felt like that before, we felt like that today.”

Even with only 985 fans at the game – half the total of the men’s game the night before – they cheered just as hard and just as loud for their Huskies.

“The people that were there were just enough,” Owens said. “Those are people that have been loyal throughout.”

A hard-fought, thrilling game was the perfect remedy to bring the NIU community to its feet. And standing together and clapping as one, the fans and team came together as a family.