DeKALB – NIU women’s basketball (8-11, 2-6 MAC) dropped its sixth game in its last seven contests at home against the MAC-leading Ball State University Cardinals (16-4, 8-0 MAC) by a score of 81-62.
The Huskies displayed good defense against the Cardinals, holding Ball State to 10-for-35, 28.6% shooting from the field and 3-for-16, 18.8% from three in the first half.
The Cardinals entered Saturday’s contest leading the MAC in shooting percentage, knocking down 45.7% of their shots this season.
“You just kind of hope that the continued game plan can keep them off balance,” head coach Lisa Carlsen said. “I think we were able to keep them off balance for the most part in the first half., I thought their adjustments were good for them and then we needed to be able to match some of the things offensively.”
The Huskies only got to the free throw line nine times in the game, going 8-for-9, while the Cardinals shot 21 free throws, going 18-for-21.
Ball State was also able to control the ball by out rebounding the Huskies 29-18 in the first half and 45-35 for the game.
The Huskies also lost the turnover battle, giving up 19 turnovers to Ball State while the Cardinals turned the ball over 11 times.
However, NIU was able to score more points off turnovers, with 14 points to Ball State’s 12.
“I think Ball State is one of those teams that is going to push you or pick you up the entire time,” Carlsen said. “A lot of what they do is predicated on their extended pressure. I thought at times we handled it well but we had some unforced turnovers, and those are the ones you really want back.”
Graduate forward Brooke Stonebraker played a big defensive role for the Huskies, totaling 3 steals and 3 blocks to lead the team.
“It’s just about staying locked in the entire time,” Stonebraker said. “No matter what the score is, you’re staying locked in on what the game plan is 100% of the time, all 40 minutes.”
Stonebraker also led the Huskies in points and rebounds for the game, totaling 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and grabbing 8 rebounds.
“When you look at the shots that I took, all the credit goes to my teammates for rotating the ball and finding me for the open shot,” Stonebraker said. “A lot of my shots were layups from the pick and roll or rotating the ball on offense.”
Junior guard Alecia Doyle was the second leading scorer for the Huskies. Limited to just 20 minutes for the game, Doyle had 9 points on 3-for-6 shooting and 2 steals.
Redshirt senior guard Sidney McCrea contributed 8 points off the bench, going 2-for-6 from three and 3-for-7 from the field while also picking up 2 blocks.
UP NEXT
The Huskies next contest will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Convocation Center against Central Michigan University. The game will be available via live stream at ESPN+, listening will be available through WDKB 94.9 FMand live stats will be available at SIDEARM Stats.