Feb. 2, 2010

Box Score

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Led by 19 points from forward Mauvolyene Adams, five Northern Illinois women's basketball players scored in double figures in an 85-67 loss at Bowling Green, Tuesday.

With the win, the Falcons improved their home record to 11-0 and advanced to 8-1 in Mid-American Conference play (18-5 overall). NIU fell to 8-13 overall, with a 2-7 record in the MAC.

Bowling Green hit 8-of-9 shots early in the game to build a 20-10 lead. Northern Illinois pushed back with a 9-2 run on the strength of back-to-back three-pointers by Courtney Shelton (Rockford, Ill./Hononegah) and Terriel Cannon (Hillside, Ill./Proviso West). The burst cut the lead to three, 22-19, but the Falcons scored 12 of the game's next 14 points to build a 13-point lead.

"We had our moments where we cut [the lead], but their scoring power is really good," NIU head coach Carol Owens said.

NIU would again trim the advantage to single digits, reducing it to seven with 3:34 left in the first half, but BGSU closed out the period with seven unanswered points to enter the locker room with a 43-29 lead.

BGSU center Tara Breske hurt the Huskies with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the opening period. Breske's three rebounds helped the Falcons outscore Northern Illinois 12-2 on second-chance points over the first 20 minutes.

"In the first half we gave them 10 offensive rebounds," Owens said. "We didn't do a good job of boxing out."

At the break, BGSU held a 23-14 edge on the boards, including a 10-2 margin on the offensive glass. For the game, NIU was outrebounded 41-33.

"We let them get too many offensive rebounds in crucial minutes," Owens said.

The trends continued in the second half, where Bowling Green scored seven second-chance points and added seven of their 19 points off turnovers.

"Points off our turnovers and rebounding were the keys to the game," Owens said.

Behind Adams (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook), senior Kylie York (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) scored 12 points on four three-pointers, and Cannon, Marke Freeman (Springfield, Ill./Lanphier) and Sarah Rogers (Chicago, Ill./Marshall) added 10 a-piece. Freeman also contributed eight assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Adams missed out on her ninth double-double off the season by one rebounds, totaling nine, and Ebony Ellis (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Township) contributed seven boards and three points in 11 minutes off the bench. It was Ellis' first action since being sidelined with a foot injury after the Jan. 6 Toledo game. Owens said because of the nature of the injury, Ellis' status will remain game-to-game.

Breske led BGSU with 16 points, followed by 2009 MAC Player of the Year Lauren Prochaska with 15 points, and Tamika Nurse with 14.

Northern Illinois will now turn its attention to a Feb. 6 match-up on the road against Akron.

Northern Illinois University Women's Basketball

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