Getting back on track as a team never felt so good.

NIU’s persistence paid off as it ran away from Toledo down the stretch to claim a home victory 69-57 on Saturday.

With the win, NIU (12-14, 8-7 MAC) clinched a No. 7 or No. 8 seed and a will have a home game on March 8 in the first round of the MAC Tournament.

“Everyone knows we’ve been struggling this whole entire season,” senior guard Kristan Knake said. “[Friday], we just had a good heart to heart as a team … We came out today ready to play and ready to have fun. We just came out today to play basketball.”

Knake finished the game with 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

The Huskies found themselves down nine to the Rockets (18-8, 11-4 MAC) at halftime. They turned the tables in the second half, however, outscoring the Rockets 45-24. For the second half, Toledo shot just 7-of-28 from the field while NIU shot at a 14-of-23 clip.

“In the second half, I thought we were a lot more patient,” NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “All five players on the court were looking for one another. We had some great passes into the post into Jen [Youngblood] and Joi [Scott].”

The inside combo of Youngblood and Scott combined for 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the game. The duo scored 20 of their 24 points in the second half.

The Huskies’ surge was keyed with 10:16 to play on a Monique Davis three-point basket as the shot clock buzzer went off.

The three helped NIU to a 16-2 run and gave the Huskies a lead they would never rescind.

“This is the best I have ever seen Monique operate as our floor general,” Hammerle said. “She was incredible; she just took charge, she made good decisions, she worked hard at both ends of the floor and she made some huge three’s for us.”

For the game, Davis scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added five assists.

The game also marked the return of Kim Boeding to the lineup. Boeding played for the first time since Jan. 22. (See page 19 for more.)

The loss amounted to a missed opportunity for Toledo. Ball State lost to Eastern Michigan on Sunday keeping both schools with a tie in the loss column for the MAC lead.