“It certainly wasn’t pretty.”

Coach Carol Hammerle’s statement best defines the NIU women’s basketball team’s victory over the Akron Zips 45-42 Saturday at the Convocation Center.

Both teams combined for under 34 percent shooting and finished with a 15-to-54 assist to turnover ratio.

NIU (11-12, 7-5 MAC) was led in scoring by freshman Joi Scott, who finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Jennifer Youngblood reached double figures in scoring for the first time in three games as she added 11 points and eight rebounds.

“I thought especially in the first half she really did some good things,” Hammerle said. “She was aggressive, she was looking to score. She got only three touches in the second half. I think we need to try to get her the ball more.”

“I know [Youngblood] is getting a lot of attention but you would think at some point Joi’s going to be getting some more attention.”

Reagan Johnson led Akron (2-21, 1-11 MAC) scoring 11 points and adding six rebounds off the bench.

Akron finished the first half just 3-of-20 shooting from the field with 21 turnovers.

Despite their struggles, the Zips found themselves trailing by just five points in the closing seconds of the first half. That was until Rachel Sillar stole a pass and hit a running 35-foot heave that banked off the glass and in to give the Huskies a 22-14 halftime lead.

Both teams settled down in the second half with the Zips making a run at the Huskies. Akron shot 10-of-21 in the second half and fought back to take a 36-32 lead with 8:07 left to play.

After an official’s timeout, NIU followed with an 11-3 run which featured two steals by junior Lindsay Secrest. NIU never trailed again.

The Huskies finished the game with 20 points off of turnovers compared to Akron’s five.

Akron had an opportunity to tie the game late, but an open three attempt by Jen Arnold missed wide right.

“It was a special play we put in a couple of weeks ago,” Akron coach Kelly Kennedy said. “We got a wide open look. Some go, some don’t and that was the story.”

The team’s set Convocation Center records for fewest points scored by one team and fewest combined points in a game.