DeKALB | Miami-Ohio women’s basketball head coach Maria Fantanarosa was very close to being a teammate of NIU coach Carol Owens. But during the final week, Fantanarosa decided on Miami while Owens traveled to NIU, and the two still like to joke about the possibility of being teammates.

These former opponents met as coaches for the second time Saturday. Owens came out on top as NIU beat Miami 82-70.

“My story line is it’s cold in DeKalb,” Fantanarosa said. “We shot some 20 percent in the first half, yet were only 13 down at the half. But in the back of my mind I was thinking, ‘They have Stephanie Raymond and Kristin Wiener.'”

Wiener and Raymond put up 21 and 14 points, respectively, but were bested Sophomore Jessie Wilcox led the Huskies (15-6 overall, 6-3 MAC) in points with an 8-13 performance from the field for 24 points.

“We were taking what they gave us,” Wilcox said. “We were not trying to force anything.”

But Miami (11-11, 5-4) used force to settle down the Huskies’ attack late in the form of a full-court pressure defense.

The scheme worked – causing NIU to turn the ball over leading to eventual points for Miami.

The RedHawks would sporadically return to this defense throughout the second half, helping to close the deficit to six points with seven minutes remaining in the game. But the RedHawks couldn’t keep up the intense defense for long, letting NIU return to a more productive offensive format.

It didn’t hurt that at the same time, the Huskies had no problem limiting Miami’s lead scorer.

Guard Amanda Jackson, the MAC’s No. 4 scorer, was held to only nine points – almost eight points below her season average.

Senior guard Mary Basic proved to be effective on both ends of the court as she recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds