Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-23,1-13MAC
Northern Illinois
12-14,5-9MAC
WBB Grabs 76-72 Come-From-Behind Win at Northern Illinois
2/22/2025 4:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Four Eagles scored in double figures to grab first MAC win of the season
Video Highlights.
DeKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – Despite trailing by 10 points through three quarters, the Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team mounted a furious comeback and outscored Northern Illinois University, 20-6, in the fourth quarter to take a 76-72 win Saturday, Feb. 22, inside the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill., to earn the team's first Mid-American Conference win of the season. Four players scored in double figures for the Eagles (2-23, 1-13 MAC) as they downed the Huskies (12-14, 5-9 MAC) and snapped an 18-game losing streak.
How It Happened
The Eagles jumped out a 7-2 lead early in the game as Olivia Smith (Ft. Wayne, Ind./South Side) scored the opening bucket before Sisi Eleko (Montreal, Quebec/New Hope Academy/Canisius) score the next five points, including a step-back three. Smith followed by adding five of her own points as the two teams were tied at 12 midway through the first with the EMU duo accounting for all 12 points. After the stoppage, NIU took its first lead of the game, 19-14, before Olivia Westphal (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park/Duquesne) hit her first three-pointer of the game to cut the score to 19-17 after one.
Neither team was able to score in the early going until NIU connected on a pair of free throws with 7:37 remaining in the second. After falling behind, 23-19, the Eagles went on a 6-0 run with Brooklyn Thrash (Wayne, Ohio/Elmwood/Canisius) hitting a pair of free throws and Kyndal Lewis (Belton, Mo./Belton) making back-to-back layups for a 25-23 lead. After NIU tied it at 25, Elena Cabello (Malaga, Spain/IES Mediterraneo) drained a three-pointer to give EMU a 28-25 lead at the media timeout. Both teams traded leads throughout the back half of the quarter as Lewis poured in eight points to keep the Eagles close at the break, 38-32.
The third opened with the Eagles finding their shot from outside as Dara Capaldi (East Detroit, Mich./La Lumiere (Ind.)) hit from deep to become the fifth different Eagle in the game to make a three-pointer. Eleko followed with two more triples to mark just the fourth game in her career she has connected on at least three. Following the media timeout with the Eagles trailing 50-49, Smith tied the score with a free throw, but NIU went on a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead. Capaldi went on a five-point run of her own to keep the Eagles close as the teams headed into the fourth trailing, 66-56
It took nearly four minutes before the first points of the fourth quarter were registered as Thrash lifted the lid with a jumper on a pass from Eleko and then followed up with a layup off an offensive rebound. Smith scored on a driving layup and the deficit was cut to four (66-62) with under four minutes to play. Following the media timeout, NIU scored its first points of the stanza with a pair of free throws, but Thrash scored another offensive tip-in to keep the deficit at three. Lewis drained two free throws with 1:31 remaining in the game to bring EMU to within one (67-66) before NIU added a jumper for a 69-66 lead.
Thrash was there once again with a tip-in and Lewis made a steal and layup to take their first lead since the first quarter, 70-69, with 22 second remaining. Eleko was fouled and made both free throws to build EMU's lead to 72-69 with 21.3 seconds to go and NIU made a layup with 13.7 seconds to go to make it 72-71 in favor of EMU. Following an EMU timeout, Westphal was fouled and made both free throws to stake the Eagles to a three-point advantage once again with 13.1 remaining. NIU, after calling a timeout, missed a three-point attempt, but claimed the rebound and called another timeout with 5.7 seconds to go. On the ensuing play, NIU attempted a three-pointer, but Capaldi blocked the shot with 3.6 seconds on the clock. NIU inbounded the ball and was fouled by Eleko on the floor, resulting in two free throws. The Huskies made the first and called a timeout before the second was wiped off on a lane violation. With a two-point lead, Westphal was fouled and hit both free throws to give EMU a 76-72 win.
Game Notes
» Sisi Eleko scored 20 points and added nine rebounds to lead the Eagles to the win. She has now scored 10+ points in 22-of-24 games played while reaching 20 points for the eighth time this season and the 16th time in her career. The last time she scored over 20 points was Jan. 29 at Kent State when finished with 24 points.
» With her 20 points, Sisi Eleko climbed several rungs of the program's scoring ladders as her 438 points this season rank 22nd in single-season history while also ranking ninth on the junior-year scoring list. Next on the lists are Courtnie Lewis (2017-18), who is 21st with 445 points, and Janay Morton (2015-16), who is eighth on the junior charts with 459.
» Olivia Smith finished the game with 14 points and joined the program's all-time scoring list as her 673 points rank 48th all-time. She is now eight points behind Kerry Porter (1988-92) for 47th on the list.
» Kyndal Lewis scored 13 points, including eight in the second quarter, to mark the first time in her career she has scored double-digit points in back-to-back games. After only having reached double figures once in her career, she scored 15 against Central Michigan (Feb. 19) earlier this week before adding 13 against the Huskies. The 28 points also mark the most she has scored in two consecutive games in her career.
» Brooklyn Thrash tallied 10 points in the game with six points coming off offensive rebounds. She added one block in the win as well.
» Dara Capaldi scored nine points with all nine coming in the third quarter to keep the Eagles close. In the fourth quarter, she recorded her first block of the season and just the third of her career as she swatted an NIU three-point attempt with 3.6 seconds remaining in the game and EMU up by three.
» The Eagles finished 7-of-22 from behind the arc to extend their current streak to 128 consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer. Sisi Eleko hit from the top of the key early in the game to extend the streak for the Eagles. The last EMU failed to drain a long-distance shot came Nov. 29, 2020, when Eastern finished 0-of-15 from three-point range at home against UIC.
Historical Notes
» With the win, the Eagles improved to 2-23 overall and 1-13 in MAC play while the Huskies fell to 12-14 overall and 5-9 in league action.
» The win marked several firsts for the Eagles, including their first road win of the season and their first MAC victory. Additionally, the win marks the first road and conference victories for Sahar Nusseibeh as the EMU head coach.
» The Eagles improved to 41-24 all-time against the Huskies and snapped their two-game winning streak in the series. Additionally, EMU is now 20-13 all-time in DeKalb and has won two in a row.
» The win snapped the Eagles' 18-game losing streak and gave EMU its first win in 2025.
Up Next
Eastern returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 26, when it welcomes Miami University to the George Gervin GameAbove Center for a 6:30 p.m. contest. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Ryan Wooley (pbp) and Claire Dau (analyst) on the call while Tom Helmer and John Motherwell will call the action live on WEMU (89.1 FM) and the Varsity Network app. The game will be the penultimate home game for the Eagles with their final contest coming March 8 against Bowling Green State University (2 p.m.).
