It isn’t very often that a team shoots more free throws than shots from the field, but that’s exactly what happened in the NIU women’s basketball team’s 78-71 victory over Ohio at the Convocation Center.

The Huskies (7-8 overall, 2-2 MAC) shot 29-of-40 from the free-throw line and 22-of-39 from the field.

“The stat that I’m most pleased at is that we got to the free throw line 40 times,” NIU coach Carol Hammerle said.

NIU won its second consecutive MAC game largely because of the inspired play of some of the not-so-familiar faces. Guard Rachel Sillar and forward Alyssa Verdegan got to started for the Huskies in place of seniors Lindsay Secrest and Stephanie Smith, who has been hampered by an injury.

Verdegan chipped in six points, while Sillar had 11 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Freshman point guard Stephanie Raymond also handed out seven assists in 20 minutes of action.

The Huskies took a 39-34 lead into halftime but came out of the gates quickly in the second half with a 12-0 run that expanded their lead to 17 points with 17:08 to play in the game.

However, a late surge by Ohio cut the lead to four points with 25 seconds to play. Two key free throws by Raymond sealed the win for NIU.

“We don’t have a sense of urgency right now,” Ohio coach Lynn Bria said. “We’ve done this in the past where we get down early and have to come back. We’ve got to find a way to come out ready to play.”

Senior forward Jennifer Youngblood led NIU with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Secrest added 13 and Sillar and freshman forward Kristin Wiener each had 11.

“This is a big win for us,” Secrest said, “because we haven’t put two wins back-to-back this season.”