When the NIU women’s basketball team walked off the court with a three-point lead at the half, they knew they couldn’t afford another second-half collapse.

With sophomore guard Stephanie Raymond scoring 14 of her game-high 19 points in the second half, the Huskies avoided another let down with a 63-52 win over Akron on Saturday at the Convocation Center.

“I’m proud of our second half because that has really been a struggle for us,” NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “It all starts with Raymond on defense. Her two steals were crucial in swinging the momentum in our direction.”

The Huskies (6-10 overall, 3-2 MAC) shot 13-of-29 in the second half compared to a 2-of-24 effort against Ball State last Wednesday.

“Our focus was to play as good in the second half as we did in the first,” said junior forward Jamie Wilson, who had 10 points and six rebounds. “We tried to keep our intensity up and it’s a lot more fun when you are playing ahead.”

After the Huskies jumped out to a 20-11 lead in the first half, Akron (1-16, 1-5) came back with a run of it’s own to tie the game at 22.

With five seconds remaining in the half, senior guard Rachel Sillar sank a three-pointer to give NIU the 25-22 advantage to take into the locker room.

From there the Huskies put together a 12-4 run to begin the second half and push the momentum in the Huskies direction.

“It was tough to watch Akron come back, but luckily we got momentum with Rachel’s three pointer,” said Raymond, who led the team with nine rebounds and six steals.

Akron was led by Australia native Jae Conn, who had a team-high 18 points to go along with three steals.