KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team fell to Northern Illinois, 60-51, at University Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Marina Asensio made a layup with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter to give the Broncos a 45-44 lead. Brooke Stonebraker responded with a layup to give NIU a 46-45 lead. The lead was expanded on a jumper by Stonebraker.
Megan Wagner got the Broncos back within one on a layup, but the Broncos went cold from there, not scoring a basket for the next 3:43. NIU expanded its lead to 58-47 until
Hannah Spitzley hit a jumper in the paint with 27 seconds left to play.
Alli Carlson led the Bronco with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Asensio had 10 points.
Artemis Kouki had seven points and five rebounds. NIU's Chelby Koker led all players with 20 points.
The Huskies jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but the Broncos responded with a late run and were within one, 12-11, heading into the second. NIU was able to expand its lead in the second quarter to take a 28-21 lead into halftime. Northern Illinois' lead got to 11 in the third quarter but WMU went on an 8-0 run late to head into the fourth quarter down by two, 40-38.
NIU shot 49 percent from the field (25-for-51), while the Broncos shot 40 percent (23-for-57).
Western Michigan is back home on Wednesday, hosting Bowling Green at 7 p.m. Tickets are on-sale at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.
