Whether pretty or ugly, a win is a win.

The NIU women’s basketball team pulled out a 54-48 win over Bradley on Friday night in their first regular season game.

Forward Aileen Rossouw led the way for the Huskies with 14 points and six rebounds. The junior also contributed on the defensive end with six steals.

Rossouw saw little action in the first half as she fell into foul trouble, but came back to play 18 minutes of solid basketball in the second half.

“I had a lot of rest in the first half,” Rossouw said. “I knew I had to step it up for the team. I kind of let them down in the first half.”

Despite committing 29 turnovers in the contest, NIU found other ways to preserve the victory.

“No one expects to be perfect this early in the season,” said head coach Carol Owens. “There’s obviously a lot we have to continue to work on, but we’re happy to be in the win column.”

The game stayed close as both teams struggled offensively in the first half. The Huskies couldn’t control the ball, turning it over 16 times before heading into the locker room with a 26-25 halftime lead.

“Some (turnovers) were unforced, but that’s just the nature of this team at this point,” Owens said. “We’re young collectively and don’t have a lot of experience. That’s something we’re going to work on as we get comfortable in our offense and we know what we’re looking for on offense.”

There were still some bright spots in Friday’s contest. Sophomore guard Kylie York drained four three-pointers for 12 points, and once again, the Huskies dominated the boards. NIU out-rebounded the Braves 40-24. Freshman forward Ebony Ellis pulled down 11 boards, seven on the defensive end, to lead all rebounders.

The Huskies shot 47 percent from the field and held the Braves to 32-percent shooting.

“We did a great job mixing up our defenses,” Owens said. “We out-rebounded a very good team and that was key. We talked about that a lot, controlling the boards early on.”

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