NIU women stun Bowling Green, hand Falcons first home loss

The NIU women’s basketball team shot 53.8% from the field and made 13 3-pointers as it defeated Mid-American Conference co-leader Bowling Green 85-81 on Wednesday night at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.

“We had a lot of people step up and do some great things tonight,” said Huskies coach Lisa Carlsen, who earned her 300th career win with the victory. “We shared the basketball and shot it really well. We handled Bowling Green’s defensive very well down the stretch.”

NIU (13-11, 5-8 MAC) handed Bowling Green (22-3, 11-2) its first home loss of the season and snapped the Falcons’ 11-game winning streak. NIU’s Chelby Koker led all scorers with 18 points, 13 of which came in the second half. A’Jah Davis had her 17th double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

Janae Poisson was 4 for 4 from the 3-point line, scoring 17 points. Sidney McCrea was the fourth Huskie in double-figures with 11 points and two steals.

After leading by four at halftime, Poisson extended the lead to 58-47 with a 3 with 2:50 to go in the quarter. Bowling Green came back and closed the quarter on an 11-2 run, getting within two 60-58 going into the fourth quarter.

The Falcons closed within one with 4:49 to go when Allison Day made back-to-back layups to make the score 68-67. The Huskies then rattled off five straight points, a Poisson three-point play putting NIU up 73-67 with 3:50 remaining. Bowling Green got as close as four points with 1:20 to go before Koker made a 3 with 0:51 left that put the Huskies up seven, 80-73, and put away the Falcons.

“We just beat one of the best teams in the league, and on Saturday we play, arguably, the best team in the league in Ball State,” Carlsen said. “Every game has a life of its own, and we have to stay in the moment.

“We’ll enjoy this win tonight, it’s a huge one for us. In three days, we’re going to have another big game, and we’re going to go battle for 40 more minutes.”