OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University women's basketball team (18-4, 9-2 MAC) beat Northern Illinois (14-9, 6-5 MAC) by a 70-45 margin on Wednesday in Millett Hall. The RedHawks' 9-2 conference record places them at the top of the MAC standings as they've won eight-straight.
Kendall McCoy earned her first double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Savannah Kluesner led the Miami offense with 17 points.
Kristen Levering also scored in double figures with 12 points.
Lauren Dickerson dished out eight assists, twice the total of the entire Northern Illinois roster. The Miami defense allowed no NIU player to reach double figures. The RedHawks pulled down 50 rebounds for the fourth time this season.
McCoy scored the first four points of the game before Northern Illinois cut Miami's lead in half with its first basket of the game. Miami would never surrender the lead. A 6-0 RedHawks run gave Miami a 10-2 lead with 6:26 to play in the first quarter.
NIU sunk a basket before Kluesner completed a three-point play to give Miami a 13-4 lead. The teams traded baskets as the Huskies closed the gap to end the first half down by six. Miami had a 20-14 lead after 10 minutes of play.
The RedHawks and Huskies went basket-for-basket for the first four minutes of the second quarter as Miami held onto a 28-24 lead with six minutes to play in the first half. Kluesner was the first player in the game to reach double figures, doing so with 7:28 remaining in second quarter.
Miami went on a 14-2 run in the final six minutes of the first half, playing strong on both ends of the court.
Levering scored six points off the bench in the first half.
Purvis reached 1,000 career points with the last shot of the first half.
Miami held a 42-26 lead over Northern Illinois at the half.
The Huskies scored the first two baskets of the second half but the RedHawks responded with three-straight buckets. McCoy became the second player in double figures with 7:33 left in the third quarter. Purvis sunk a three-pointer with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter to give Miami a 51-32 lead.
Neither team scored a basket for three minutes before Kluesner and McCoy scored back-to-back to extend Miami's lead to 24 points. McCoy's shot was her second three-pointer of the game.
Miami combined for a total of five steals throughout the game, always pressuring the Northern Illinois offense.
The RedHawks held a 58-36 lead after three quarters of play.
Levering hit double figures with Miami's first two baskets of the fourth quarter as it extended its lead to 62-38 with eight minutes to play. The 'Hawks defense held the Huskies to only three field goals in the fourth quarter to wrap up an impressive defensive game. Miami held its largest lead of the game with 34 seconds remaining after two free throws from
Kelly McLaughlin extended the RedHawks' lead to 70-42.
Miami is back on the road at Akron on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
