KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan women's basketball fell this evening at home to the Northern Illinois (8-10, 5-5 MAC) by a final score of 61-47 from University Arena. The loss moves the Broncos to 11-6 on the season, and 5-3 in Mid-American Conference play.

The WMU defense played well in the game's opening 20 minutes, holding NIU to just nine points in both the first and second quarters. Redshirt senior forward Reilly Jacobson got WMU off to a hot start, posting 11 first-half points on 4-6 shooting and 3-5 from beyond the arc.

The Huskies came out of the locker room to start the second half and it seemed everything went in their favor as they shot 71.4 percent from the field in the third quarter collectively. Northern Illinois got off on a 9-0 run to being half number two, and an 11-3 run shortly thereafter, which ultimately proved to be the difference in the contest.

The Broncos attempted to make a comeback in the final quarter of play, but would not be able to cut much into the Huskie advantage. WMU was outscored 17-12 in the final 10 minutes to disable the resurgence effort and end the game in favor of NIU.

Despite getting good looks from the field, the Broncos had a night where nothing seemed to find the net. As a team, Western Michigan shot 17-56 (30.4 percent) for the game, as well as 28.1 percent from deep, while Northern Illinois capitalized on 26 of their 59 shot attempts (44.1 percent), and sank 6 of 13 (46.2 percent) from deep.

The Huskies entered Kalamazoo as the MAC's top rebounding team, and found success in the paint tonight as they scored 38 points from in close and yanked down 43 rebounds as a group to WMU's 39 boards.

The Broncos were led tonight by Reilly Jacobson, who finished with 15 points on 6-10 shooting and 3-6 from three-point territory, as well as four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. The WMU bench was another bright spot tonight, accounting for 19 of the team's 47 points on the evening. Junior guard Sydney Shafer led all Bronco reserves with 12 points on 4-10 shooting and 3-6 from three in her time on the court.

Western Michigan will now shift its attention again to the state of Ohio as they aim to bounce back, this time on the road against the Akron Zips. Tip-off from James A. Rhodes Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 2 is set for 7 p.m., and will be available for streaming via ESPN3.

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