Old friends, new rivals: Lexi Carlsen, Evyn Carrier make mark in NIU’s loss to Western Michigan

DeKALB – It happened before at the NIU Convocation.

Evyn Carrier got a block and barely 20 seconds later Lexi Carlsen was draining a 3-pointer.

This time, however, they weren’t Sycamore teammates facing rival DeKalb in the college setting with a trophy on the line.

They were Mid-American Conference rivals, Carlsen playing for the host NIU women’s basketball team and Carrier playing for Western Michigan.

The former Sycamore teammates combined for 19 points and 14 rebounds in the Broncos' 61-57 win over the Huskies on Saturday.

“I’m so proud of Lexi. She’s killing it,” Carrier said. “Especially being a freshman. It was really cool. We both went in at the same time and kind of gave each other a little pat on the back. But it felt really good to be back here. And obviously although Lexi didn’t get the win she had a hell of a game.”

After leading most of the first half, the Broncos (6-8 overall, 3-1 MAC) and Huskies (7-8, 1-3) were tied up at 27. Laura Nickel slashed to the basket for the Huskies, but Carrier went upright, blocked the shot and got the rebound.

But Western Michigan couldn’t convert. Brooke Blumenfield came up with a steal and fed it ahead to Carlsen, who drained a 3-pointer to put NIU ahead with 44 seconds left in the second quarter.

“As much as I love all three of them, they’re wearing a different jersey,” Carlsen said. “When we step on the court we’re opponents first and teammates second, unfortunately for the first time. I was going to do what I had to do on the court and Evyn and I can giggle and goof around on the court after the game.”

Carlsen finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the loss. It was the 11th straight start for the true freshman guard.

Carrier finished with eight points, five rebounds and a block in 17 minutes off the bench, her first playing time since Dec. 7 having been out with an illness. It was a career high in points for the 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman post.

“It was an adjustment coming back, I was tired quicker and stuff, but my teammates had my back the whole entire time to pick me up,” Carrier said. “It was nice being back in my hometown, having all of my family and friends here and I’m just so proud of the team.”

The Huskies led most of the game and all of the third quarter, but an Alli Carlson layup put Western Michigan up 49-48 just 25 seconds into the fourth quarter. They never trailed again.

Carlsen made a 3 with 40 seconds remaining, cutting the Broncos' lead to 57-55. Lauren Audino got a putback off a missed shot with six seconds left to push the lead to four and ice the win.

The Huskies shot 37% from the floor in the game and 31% from the floor in the fourth, including 1 of 7 on 3-point attempts.

“I think we took all the right shots,” Carlsen said. “I have the confidence in every single person that takes every shot that it’s going to go in. I just think there was a little bit of a lid on the rim today. It’s just unfortunate.

For Carrier, it was the first time going up against one of the three other former Sycamore players at the Division I level – Kylie Feuerbach is in her last year at Iowa and Faith Feuerbach is at St. Thomas.

Carlsen and NIU have played all three teams this year, with another game against Western Michigan looming next month.

NIU coach Lisa Carlsen, Lexi Carlsen’s mother, said it’s been fun going against the former Sycamore players. Kylie Feuerbach and Lexi Carlsen weren’t teammates, but every other combination of the four played together for multiple seasons with the Spartans.

“They made some deep runs, which was exciting,” the 10th-year head coach said. “To see all of those guys have success at this level is pretty cool.”

The Huskies fell to 0-3 against the other Sycamore players' teams. Iowa won 91-73 in Iowa City on Nov. 6. Kylie Feuerbach started and had 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and six steals in the win while Carlsen had six points on a pair of 3-pointers of the bench in front of 14,998.

Four days later, Faith Feuerbach started and had seven points and three assists in a 75-68 win in front of 1,005 people, still the largest women’s crowd this season at the Convo. Carlsen had five points in the loss.

Saturday was Carrier’s ninth game of the year. She’s started five times, including the first three of the year after playing in three games last year. She was a plus-eight in her time on the court, the highest of anyone in the game. Carlsen’s plus-minus was at 0, the third-highest of any Huskie.

“It’s super cool for this community and all these fans that have supported both me and Evyn throughout our high school careers and beyond,” Carlsen said after most of the 940 fans in attendance cleared out. “I’m proud to see what she’s doing over at Western.”