NIU women’s basketball coach Carol Hammerle was worried her team would come out flat after beating Wisconsin on Nov. 23. Her worries came true as the Huskies lost 61-56 to Western Illinois on Saturday at the Convocation Center.

The Huskies (2-1) were outrebounded 31-20 overall and 14-6 on offensive glass.

Zane Teilane and Tiffany Cornelius scored 18 points and 17, respectively, with seven rebounds apiece for WIU (1-2).

“They beat us on the boards and really pushed the ball inside to their post players,” Hammerle said. “Between offensive rebounds and points in the paint, they were much more intense than we were. Offensively, I thought we got good looks inside but just didn’t finish. With that combination, we don’t win a game like that.”

WIU also outscored the Huskies 34-20 in the paint.

No NIU player reached double digits in scoring. Senior forward Jennifer Youngblood, freshman guard Stephanie Raymond and freshman forward Kristin Wiener each had nine points for the Huskies.

Youngblood was the only NIU player with more than three rebounds, grabbing seven.

Senior guard Lindsay Secrest had six points on 2-of-9 shooting and sophomore forward Joi Scott had three points on 1-of-6 from the floor.

The Huskies fell behind 9-2 early but went on a 12-6 run to end the first half down 31-27.

NIU would get no closer, however. Down by six points with one minute left, Cornelius grabbed an offensive rebound and hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to give WIU its first win of the year.

“Give Western Illinois credit,” Hammerle said. “They did a nice job of executing, and there was a greater sense of urgency on their part. This was a do-or-die game for them, and that’s the way they played today.”