A pair of fresh faces helped to carry the NIU women’s basketball team to victory Tuesday night.

The Huskies rolled to a 65-42 victory over Robert Morris with strong play from a couple of bench players. Ebony Ellis and Mauvolyene Adams both combined for 22 of the team’s 56 rebounds. NIU out-rebounded the Eagles 56-28.

Ellis finished the night four of six shooting with 11 points and 12 boards. Adams added nine points with 10 rebounds.

“That was the key for us in the second half,” said head coach Carol Owens. “When you have players of that caliber getting offensive rebounds like they do, that really helps our team.”

NIU’s outside shots weren’t falling as much as they would have liked. They shot only 16 percent from behind the three-point line, but provided 26 points in the paint.

Guard Jessie Wilcox scored 10 points for NIU while shooting six of eight from the free throw line.

The exhibition match gave NIU a chance to work together with the new personnel and try out new combinations, Owens said.

“It’s different coming out with a lot of new faces,” said sophomore guard Kylie York. “It’s fun to work with new people. It’s a new experience and you just have to get used to it.”

Robert Morris’ press proved to be a little of a challenge for the Huskie offense. It forced a few turnovers and stalled the offense a little toward the end of the first half, but NIU began to break it by being more aggressive, Owen said.

“I was happy they did that for us tonight because I think we needed it,” Owens said. “I think last year, teams were hesitant to pressure because of Stephanie (Raymond) but we’re going to expect that full court pressure for a while until we learn to break it with ease.”

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