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NIU women's basketball won back-to-back games for the fourth time this season.
The Huskies (9-11, 3-5 MAC) defeated Kent State (5-13, 4-4 MAC) 66-55 Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
"Overall, they played better than we did," said Kent State coach Bob Lindsay. "We weren't very consistent out there today."
NIU was on fire to open the game, shooting 71 percent from the field and knocking down its first five three pointers.
Senior Courtney Shelton set the tone offensively for the Huskies, scoring a game-high 23 points and hitting five of 10 shots from beyond the arc.
"As a team, we were really just attacking gaps, getting people open," Shelton said. "A lot of people got good looks tonight, and we were knocking down shots. That's a good feeling, and it gives us confidence heading into our next couple games."
The Huskies had a lead as high as 18 points in the first half as the game looked like it may have been a blowout.
But once NIU cooled off shooting from the field, the Golden Flashes slowly chipped away at the deficit and came back multiple times to pull within a couple possessions.
However, Kent State couldn't get over that final hurdle to take a lead.
"We were disappointing in places," Lindsay said. "We cut the lead to five a couple of different times, gave up an offensive rebound, gave up a play that we shouldn't have given up and that hurt us."
The Huskies have a defense-first mentality, but the offense has slowly started to come together, making them more of a threat as the season continues.
"I think it's because we have some confidence with the ball," said NIU coach Kathi Bennett. "We're poised, our spacing is so much better and we believe in ourselves that we can attack gaps and make shots."
NIU was one again highly successful from the free throw line, shooting 82 percent as a team.
Freshmen Claire Jakubicek and Amanda Corral joined Shelton by putting up double digit points for the second consecutive game. Both also flirted with a double-double as they each had eight rebounds.
After the six game losing streak the Huskies had over winter break, the team has found a rhythm during a critical point in the year.
"We've been consistent in practice ever since the Buffalo game," Bennett said. "I think sometimes you really got to get in a valley to wake up. I think we've really executed well offensively, we have a tact, we read our defense, share the ball, we're playing really good basketball on both ends right now."
The gymnastics team returned home on Saturday as it narrowly defeated Southeast Missouri Redhawks 192.875-192.775. NIU head coach Sam Morreale said he was proud of the way his team performed in the meet despite having to come from behind to grab the win....
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