Women’s basketball (10-14, 3-10 MAC) took a 73-57 loss to Ball State University (17-7, 9-4 MAC) yesterday, keeping the team at the bottom of the MAC West.

Ball State dominated NIU in every aspect of the game aside from rebounding. The Cardinals had a shooting percentage of 47.2 in comparison to 31 percent for the Huskies. NIU failed to protect the basket on the defensive end, allowing the Cardinals to get whatever they wanted inside.

The Huskies had their best quarter in the fourth, scoring 18 points but it wasn’t enough to crawl out of the hole they dug themselves into. They only managed to score only nine points in the second period.

Junior guard Ally Lehman continued to shine for NIU, dropping a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Her 17 double figure rebound games are an NIU single-season record.

“Unfortunately, we have shot the ball well at home in the last couple of games especially,” said NIU head coach Lisa Carlsen. “Tonight, that didn’t happen for us, but sometimes you’re going to have nights like that and again, we’re not big enough maybe to compete in size against a team like Ball State. We have to be able to knock down perimeter shots.”

The Huskies will hit the road in hopes of improving their 2-8 road record as they take on Eastern Michigan University at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Ypsilanti, Mich.