Coming off what coach Carol Hammerle called the worst outing of the season, the women’s basketball team looked to rebound against Kent State.

Unfortunately, the defending MAC Tournament champs were able to hold off a late run by the Huskies and escaped with a 76-72 home win.

“It’s frustrating, because we’re playing 35 minutes of basketball right now,” Hammerle said. “I’m trying to figure out why we can’t start the second half with the same intensity as our opponents. That’s been a problem. We’re digging a hole for ourselves, and we have to battle back. That’s hard to do, especially on the road.”

NIU (5-10, 1-3) fought back from a 13 point deficit at the 4:58 mark of the second half but could only pull within 71-70 by 2:15.

Hammerle decided to try to force a turnover on the Golden Flashes’ (8-7, 3-1) final possession, but Valerie Zona hit from eight feet to seal the win.

“Our strength has been our defense, and we decided to try to get another stop,” Hammerle said. “I thought we had it on a traveling violation, but we didn’t get it.”

For the Huskies, Joi Scott made her first career start replacing Kim Boeding who played only seven minutes because of illness. In Boeding’s absence, Scott scored a team-high 18 points, grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and collected five assists and four steals.

“Joi did an outstanding job today,” Hammerle said. “What more could she have done today? I certainly think she showed why she should be a candidate for the MAC All-Freshman team.”

Jennifer Youngblood and Lindsay Secrest each added 14 points for the Huskies, and Stephanie Smith chipped in with 10.

On the day, KSU shot 23-27 from the free throw line, while NIU shot just 3-5.

In four MAC games this season, NIU has made 25-38 free throw attempts while its opponents are 75-87.