NIU’s women cagers learned their lesson the hard way with a 89-73 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes at Chick Evans Field House Tuesday night.

The Huskies found out they had to hold on to the ball to produce any offense. Nineteen turnovers in the first half proved to be the key factor for NIU’s demise. Even though the Huskies turned over only six balls in the second half, NIU was too far down in points to recover.

“We failed to take care of the ball in the first half,” NIU coach Jane Albright said. “Nineteeen turnovers—that is almost 40 points we could have had.”

OSU came out strong from the beginning of the game. Tracey Hall and Nikita Lowry each contributed two points within the first 40 seconds of the game. Lowry led all players in scoring with 25 points.

With ten minutes left in the half, the Huskies were down by as much as 11 points, with a 24-13 score. It looked like NIU might rally back into the game when Tammy Hinchee added two points followed by Gina Stubbs’ two free-throws, bringing the Huskies closer at 24-17.

The Buckeyes, however, showed why they are ranked 11th by the Associated Press by taking charge of the game and leaving the halftime score at 45-22.

“They controlled us in the first half,” Albright said. “It is no mistake they are ranked 11th in the nation. They will be better as time goes by.”

Although the Huskies had a better shooting percentage in the second half, NIU could not close the gap that had been formed before halftime. The Huskies tallied a .475 fieldgoal percentage in the second half compared to OSU’s .462 clip.

“Our offense did not get going till the second half,” Albright said. “I am just as proud of the second half as of any second halves that I have been here.”

Albright gave credit to OSU’s defensive play. She said turnovers were caused by the Buckeyes’ great defense team.

Sophomore Lisa Foss was NIU’s leading shooter with 23 points. Stubbs was next, chipping in 19 followed by Hinchee’s 18, 15 of them coming in the second half.

“Foss and Stubbs were excellent in the backcourt,” Albright said. “They were a good 1-2 punch.

“Hinchee was outstanding. We’ve got to get her the ball more, but it was hard tonight because both of Ohio’s wings were 6-feet tall.”

Although Albright was disappointed with some of her squad’s mistakes, she did give credit to the player’s dedication and never-quit attitude.

“We never gave up for one second,” Albright said. “I told them to hold on to the ball during halftime and their intensity grew even higher in the second half.”

Albright said neither she nor her team members are going to be hanging their heads low from this loss. She said the team knows what it has to do to win.

“We have just got to keep playing,” Albright said. “We aren’t going to quit, not for a second.”

NIU (1-1) is not going to have a chance to slow down. The Huskies are staying home to compete against South Carolina Thursday. On Saturday, NIU is holding its 5th Annual NIU Fastbreak Fest.