After four straight road games, the women’s basketball team was just glad to be home.

The Huskies made the most of their homecoming before heading out for two more road games by beating Illinois State 80-48 on Saturday at the Convocation Center.

“I’m really proud of this team,” coach Carol Hammerle said. “Illinois State is truly a good team and we just came out and played some fantastic defense. We just executed very well.”

NIU (3-3) trailed only briefly at the beginning of the game when Sharon Blade made a three footer in the lane for ISU (1-5) to make the score 6-2 in favor of the Redbirds.

With the Huskies trailing by four at the 17:24 mark, coach Hammerle’s team went on a 21-0 run, holding the Redbirds scoreless for over six minutes and extending their lead to 23-6.

The Huskies went almost exclusively to the post during the run as 16 of the team’s 21 points were scored by forwards Jennifer Youngblood and Kim Boeding.

Youngblood finished with a game-high 21 points, while Boeding collected her first double-double by logging 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

“I think the run was definitely our defense,” Youngblood said. “When we get stops on defense, I think it gives us a certain confidence on offense. We know we can score, and we know we can go down on the other end and get a stop.”

The Redbirds pulled within nine points at the 8:15 mark of the second half, but the Huskies went on a 25-2 run to end the game.

“Obviously, we really struggled in that first half,” ISU coach Jenny Yopp said. “Coach Hammerle’s team did exactly what they needed to do. I felt they executed really well.”

During winter break, NIU travels on the road for three games, including its next two against Dayton and DePaul. During that span, the Huskies will host four games, including their MAC home-opener against Bowling Green on Jan. 11.