Tierney Kelsey matched her career high of 22 points to help the Indiana State women’s basketball team slip by Northern Illinois 69-61 on Wednesday night in Hulman Center.
Clemisha Prackett, Samiyah Briggs, Kennedy Claybrooks, Kayla Smith and Kelsey started for ISU and Amerie Flowers came off the bench for her second double-double of the season — this time 15 points and 10 rebounds.
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“I don’t think the score should have been that close,” Flowers said. “We came together as a team at the end and I thought we just needed more energy, so it was a matter of just being able to talk to my teammates and knowing that they have my back and I have theirs too.”
What ultimately defined the game for the Sycamores was an aggressive first quarter that saw ISU hold a 16-point lead before surviving a late fourth-quarter scare.
“We really didn’t take our foot off the gas,” ISU coach Marc Mitchell mentioned. “What happened was NIU made an adjustment of something they haven’t done all year and it kind of took us for a little bit of a surprise because we had to adjust to it. We’re going to stay aggressive, we’re going to keep pushing the ball, we’re going to keep rebounding and running.
“But [the Huskies] did a great job.”
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Mitchell credited his team for battling through the tight second half.
“We came out real hot and then NIU did a great job jumping to a 2-3 zone, which they really haven’t played this year, and we had to adjust to that, and I think we did just enough to win the game,” Mitchell said.
Kelsey, a 5-foot-6 sophomore guard, scored exactly 22 points for the third time this season to lead the Sycamores.
“My teammates believe in me, so I just come in with the mindset to just hoop because I know they have my back,” Kelsey said. “Then in the second and third quarter, I kind of got in a slump and they encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing. So I just kept shooting the ball so we can come back.”
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In the second quarter, the Sycamores maintained the double-digit lead until a 3-pointer by NIU’s Emilie Sorensen made it a seven-point game and it was 40-31 at the half.
Trailing 53-45 after three quarters, the Huskies rallied to take a 55-53 lead, but Flowers knocked down two free throws to tie it. A Claybrooks 3-pointer with 2:56 to go to give ISU a 62-57 lead and the Sycamores kept the Huskies at an arm’s length as they escaped with the victory.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (61) — Johnson 4-13 10-12 19, Mbemba 4-9 2-6 10, Wingate 4-9 1-3 9, Sorensen 2-5 3-5 8, Hermoso 3-5 0-0 6, Serracanta 2-7 1-2 5, Conwell 1-2 2-2 4, Sollberger 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 FG, 19-30 FT, 61 TP.
INDIANA STATE (69) — Kelsey 6-19 8-9 22, Flowers 5-5 5-8 15, Claybrooks 4-9 2-4 11, Briggs 2-9 5-6 9, Smith 2-6 0-0 6, Washington 1-2 0-0 2, Tavares 1-2 0-0 2, Ard 0-1 0-0 0, Allen 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 FG, 20-27 FT, 69 TP.
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Northern Illinois 10 21 14 16 — 61
Indiana State 26 14 13 16 — 69
3-point shooting — NIU 2-15 (Sorensen 1-3, Johnson 1-6, Hermoso 0-1, Sollberger 0-1, Serracanta 0-2), ISU 5-24 (Smith 2-6, Kelsey 2-7, Claybrooks 1-4, Briggs 0-1, Ard 0-1, Allen 0-4). Total fouls — NIU 23, ISU 23. Technical foul — Wingate. Rebounds — NIU 36 (Serracanta 9, Mbemba 7), ISU 39 (Flowers 10). Assists — NIU 7 (Serracanta 6), ISU 9 (Claybrooks 4). Turnovers — NIU 17, ISU 14. Blocks — NIU 3 (Mbemba 2), ISU 2 (Prackett and Flowers 1).
Next — Indiana State (4-3) plays Dec. 11 at Butler.
