With 17 seconds left in the game, the NIU women’s basketball team found itself down by a point, and NIU coach Carol Hammerle called a timeout to set up the last chance to win the game.

Hammerle designed the play to go to senior forward Jennifer Youngblood, who has been known as the “rock” of the Huskies team during her four years, Hammerle said.

Youngblood got the feed from sophomore Joi Scott in the post, spun right and put in the winning layup with eight seconds left to give the Huskies a 56-55 win over Kent State.

The senior forward finished with a career-high 27 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Huskies beat Kent State for the first time in Hammerle’s six seasons at NIU.

“This is the best game Jen has played this year,” Hammerle said. “She makes everyone around her better. What a great time for her to pick to play her best game.”

Youngblood shot 10-of-18 and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Of her 11 rebounds, five were offensive rebounds.

Kent State coach Bob Lindsay said his team had no answer for Youngblood, even when they knew she was going to get the ball.

“You’re going to get the ball to your best player in that situation,” Lindsay said. “If you’re on the other team and don’t expect that, then you’re sleeping.”

KSU’s leading scorer, Lindsay Shearer, was held to three points on 1-of-10 shooting and had six turnovers. Youngblood covered Shearer, who averages 13.9 points per game, for most of the game.

Youngblood jokingly said she knew the Huskies had won the game but she wasn’t about to take all the credit even though she accounted for almost half of the Huskies’ points.

“I think the reason why I played so well was because of my teammates,” Youngblood said. “On the last play, I wasn’t thinking about who was guarding me. I was just focusing on what we had to do.”