A poor shooting performance by the women’s basketball team led to another double-digit loss against Kent State University Wednesday in Kent, Ohio.

How it happened

NIU started the game off well, matching Kent State’s scoring throughout much of the first quarter. The game was close until a 3-pointer by Golden Flashes junior guard Katie Shumate with 3:11 left in the quarter, breaking a 12-12 tie. The basket helped Kent State go on a 9-2 run to close out the quarter with a 23-14 lead.

The scoring woes were just starting for the Huskies, scoring just 10 points in the second quarter on 23.5% shooting. Kent State, on the other hand, shot 50% from the field to take a 38-24 lead into the half.

The Huskies came out the half with one of their worst quarters of the season. NIU was only able to score four points in the entirety of the third quarter on 7% shooting. On the defensive side, they let up another 15 points to the Golden Flashes, increasing the deficit 25 points at the end of the third. The Huskies just couldn’t get any rhythm from outside the paint all night.

The Huskies fought hard in the fourth quarter scoring 15, but it was too little too late. Kent State scored 14 of their own, to win the game by a final score of 67-43. Despite the poor shooting performance by the Huskies, there were still some positives from the game. Junior forward A’jah Davis was able to record her 18th double-double of the season, which is the most by a player in school history.

Thoughts from coach Carlsen

Head coach Lisa Carlsen on the Huskies’ poor shooting Wednesday:

“I told them at halftime, you gotta control the controllables. When our guys get open shots, you’re expected to knock them down,” Carlsen said on Huskie Sports Radio Network. “When I go back and watch, I’m sure I’ll see opportunities for us to score the basketball. We had the right people taking the right shots but it just didn’t go in the basket.”

On setting a school record:

“On a night where we can’t feel good about very many things, I’m very proud of A’jah,” Carlsen said. “She’s worked extremely hard, not just in scoring the basketball, but rebounding too. I’m glad to see her break the record tonight, but I don’t think that’s the last double-double we’ll see from her.”

The end result

With the loss, NIU stays at eighth in the Mid-American Conference, dropping their overall record to 10-13, 7-8 in conference play. Kent State moved up to fourth in the conference, improving their overall record to 16-7, 8-6 in conference.

NIU will return to action at noon Saturday for a road matchup against Ball State University. The game will be available on ESPN 3.