Despite New Mexico State making a valiant comeback with 3:49 left in the game to tie the score, NIU coach Carol Hammerle’s team never faltered to grab a 65-58 win Saturday afternoon.

New Mexico State jumped out to an early lead by a score of 12-11, but NIU created a lot of breathing room from there until half-time, entering the locker room up 34-23.

It was the Aggies’ defensive pressure from the guards that gave NIU the most troubles, as they had amassed 16 turnovers at half-time, and 30 for the game.

Playing with an aggressive, trapping defense, NIU stumbled with the pressure.

“Monique Davis is usually able to handle the point pretty well,” said Hammerle. “But she didn’t and I don’t know what the case was. We just didn’t make good decisions in trying to attack their trap.”

Davis finished with three turnovers in 15 minutes of work, as junior guard Kristan Knake took over for her at the lead guard spot.

Knake finished the game with a team-leading five turnovers, but picked up the slack on the defensive end with five steals. Also, amassing 14 points and four assists while having what Hammerle called her best game of the year.

“Kristan did an outstanding job,” Hammerle said. “Yes, she had five turnovers, but she was handling the ball most of the time. It’s easier to swallow when you’ve got your point guard with that, but you look at the rest of our players and what were they doing, because we had so many turnovers.”

With the abundance of turnovers, Hammerle was not pleased with her team’s execution despite the win. She feels that her team got caught up in what New Mexico State was trying to do with a run-and-gun style of play.

“They like to gamble, they like to trap and if you do panic then you’re going to get 30 turnovers like we did,” continued Hammerle.

While the Aggies rely on their gambling on the defensive end with various traps and presses, they had many streak runs. One run started with 8:21 left in the game when New Mexico State’s sharp-shooting Jenia Dimitrova rang up a long-distance 3-point basket.

Running off 13 straight points, Aggies’ 5-foot-4 Mari Sanchez connected on a game-tying 3-pointer from the left corner.

But that is when the Huskies came together as one.

“We never lost hope,” Knake said. “I think that more than anything we thought, ‘What are we doing?’ We were up by 13 and then we let them tie the game. No, that should not happen. So I think it was more motivation to get the defense going and use that to work on our offense. It made me mad.”

After that point, NIU handled New Mexico State’s defensive pressure with more cohesion and responded to the challenge.

“They capitalized on our lack of rotation,” said New Mexico State coach Nikita Lowry, who was missing junior guard Melanie Maynes, who she calls her best player. “That’s what happens when you play scramble defense. Either you get the ball or you sacrifice an open lay-up or an open shot. And they knocked it down. They were poised and they did what they were supposed to do and they did a great job.”

A large factor to the Huskies’ composed play during the end of the game was 6-foot-4 junior Jessica Shattuck, who hit two crucial lay-ups and grabbed several key rebounds in the last 1:44 left in the game.

Shattuck completed the game with a game-high of 19 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the floor. She also contributed six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

“Basketball is a mental game for me,” Shattuck said. “Every time I can contribute to the team like tonight it helps with my confidence and helps with my mental toughness. I know the system more this year and I know the defense and offense, so I don’t have to concentrate as much how my girl is or defending her in different ways.”

“Since when we played Long Beach [Nov. 24], Shattuck had a killer game and tonight she came right back and had another killer game,” Knake said. “She better get used to this because we are going to start to expect this from her.”

Shattuck also showed that she has improved on her defense while guarding New Mexico State’s leading scorer, 6-foot-2 Ivana Stojkovic, who was held scoreless throughout the first half. Realizing she was the Aggies’ leading scorer, Shattuck said she concentrated heavily on keeping her down. Stojkovic finished with a total of eight points on the night, 10 below her average.

Hammerle was also happy with her team’s free-throw shooting, which was at a 91 percent clip for a total of 20-22 on the night.

“Coach Hammerle is a great coach,” said Lowry, who also coached against her while she ran the show at Detroit Mercy. “She’s done what I’m trying to do here with my program to turn it around.”