For a guard-oriented offense, this is something a coach never wants to see on the stat sheet at halftime: 20 turnovers.
Northern Illinois women`s basketball coach Jane Albright saw that number Tuesday night, and the end result was predictable. The Huskies dropped their second straight road game, 96-76 to Stephen F. Austin.
”I don`t think this loss will hurt us too much,” said Albright, whose club is off until Dec. 28 when it plays West Virginia in the first round of the Purdue Classic. ”As opposed to the Michigan State loss, the effort was there.
”You don`t win a marathon early. We`ve got a lot of games left.”
The Huskies (6-2), who entered Tuesday`s contest ranked 20th in the country, finished with 34 turnovers. Lisa Foss led NIU with 22 points.
Hitting the charts: Before Tuesday`s game, Foss was the fourth-leading scorer in the nation, averaging 27.3 points a game. On the men`s side, Donald Whiteside was 11th in three-point accuracy at 58.8 percent (10 of 17).
Resting up: Senior guard Stacy Arrington is expected to return Thursday for the Chicago State game. He has been sidelined by tendinitis in his right knee. `D` digs in: NIU leads Mid-Continent teams in four categories-scoring defense (54.2 points a game), scoring margin (plus-15), field-goal percentage defense (.383) and free-throw percentage (.794).
