NIU women win MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, men fall at South Alabama

Women’s basketball

NIU 91, Georgia Southern 84: At DeKalb, Jayden Marable scored a career-best 26 as the Huskies topped the Eagles in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge on Saturday.

Marable was 10 for 17 from the field, surpassing her previous career-high of 23 points set last season against Central Michigan. She also had 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and a team-high six assists.

“I’m really happy for Jayden,” head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “There’s been a couple games where she’s been disappointed in terms of the ball not going in the basket. Her aggressiveness from the start gave her a lot of confidence and she was able to carry that throughout the game. She made some big shots and was able to control the game, which is what we need from her on a night-to-night basis.”

NIU (11-11) scored 33 in the first quarter, its highest-scoring quarter of the season. The Huskies were 6 from 6 from 3-point range in the quarter.

Sidney McCrea scored 16 on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, Brooke Blumenfeld had 15 points and a season-best eight boards and Tara Stauffacher added 11 points off the bench.

Men’s basketball

South Alabama 79, NIU 66: At Mobile, Xavier Amos had 16 points in the loss for the Huskies (8-15) in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.

Zion Russell had a career-best 13 points and eight rebounds. Yanic Konan Niederhauser added 12 points and seven rebounds. Zarique Nutter had 15 points and 10 rebounds.