Women’s hoops gets win over UW-Milwaukee
Huskies hold on for victory, break losing streak against UWM
Article by:
Ian Waddick - Assitant Sports Editor
• iwaddick@northernstar.info
In a first half that saw nine ties and six lead changes, it was the
final 53 seconds of the half that set the tone for the NIU women’s
basketball team at Saturday’s game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Trailing by two with under a minute to play, the Huskies (3-2) went
to Joi Scott. The sophomore forward scored to tie the game and then
followed it up with a three-point play to give NIU a three-point lead
at the half, a lead they would never relinquish in a 55-53 win over
Milwaukee.
“I thought that was big,” NIU coach Carole Hammerle said,
about the end of the first half. “I felt Milwaukee was working
so hard at double-teaming our perimeter that they were almost forgetting
about our post players. We saw some opportunities and we started going
to either Joi or Jen [Youngblood], and Joi was usually on the receiving
end of it. It was pretty easy; it was pretty much a drop step and a
score.”
Although they never lost the lead, the Huskies almost blew an 11-point
lead with five minutes remaining in the game. Down 53-42 with 5:01 to
play, the Panthers (3-4) outscored NIU 11-2 for the remainder of the
game.
“We tried to spread it out, go inside-outside and penetrate,”
Panthers coach Sandy Bothman said. “We tried to get to the free
throw line and draw the defenders so we can make that extra pass. We
just seemed tentative. We weren’t really aggressive and when we
started knocking them down, it was too little too late.”
The win was NIU’s first over the Panthers since 1997. Senior forward
Jennifer Youngblood finished with 13 rebounds to lead the Huskies.
On offense, it was Scott who came off the bench to score 16 for NIU.
Scott was efficient with the ball, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and
6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Lindsay Secrest scored nine of her 12 points in the first half for
the Huskies.
NIU started a pair of freshman in place of two injured players. Guard
Stephanie Raymond started and played 30 minutes in place of Monique
Davis, who played sparingly. Freshman Kristin Wiener started at center
for NIU.
NIU held UWM’s Maria Viall to 14 points. The Panthers center had
scored 20 or more points in the previous five games. She had 14 rebounds
to lead the game.
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