DeKALB | Forget the flowers, chocolate and heart-shaped candy, the NIU women’s basketball team will be more than happy taking rebounds, free throws and ultimately the win as its Valentine’s Day present.

The Huskies (16-8 overall, 7-5 MAC) did the little things right Wednesday night as they defeated Eastern Michigan (12-11, 7-5) 82-68 in a crucial MAC game for each team.

The two teams are now tied for second place in the MAC West with records of 7-5. They trail Ball State by three games after the Cardinals won at Akron on Wednesday.

“This was a huge win for us and I give a lot of credit to our upper-classmen,” NIU coach Carol Owens said.

With 6:03 left in the game and the Huskies hanging on to a one-point lead, senior Kristin Wiener and sophomore Jessie Wilcox sparked a 7-0 run.

From there, the Huskies used rebounding and free throws to keep the Eagles from coming back in the game.

“We had to defensive rebound and we didn’t,” said EMU acting head coach Shane Clipfell. “To me, that was the biggest difference in the game,”

For the game, NIU out-rebounded EMU 44-26 and shot 25-28 from the foul line, compared to 8-9 by the Eagles.

Guard Stephanie Raymond went 7 of 7 from the line while scoring a game-high 22 points. She also had eight assists and three steals.

“It’s all about reading the defense,” Raymond said. “You have to take care of the ball and not force anything and we did that.”

Wiener and Wilcox each scored 16 points and Wiener led all rebounders with 11 boards.