Women’s basketball will close out the road portion of its schedule in a battle of struggling teams still competing for the opportunity to host a MAC Tournament game.

The Huskies (9-17, 5-11 MAC), the No. 9 seed, will take on the Ball State Cardinals (12-15, 7-9 MAC), the No. 7 seed, at 6 p.m. today at the John E. Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind.

The Huskies lost to the Cardinals, 63-50, in their Feb. 9 meeting at the Convocation Center. NIU has gone 1-4 since then, while Ball State has gone 2-3 in that same stretch.

NIU enters the rematch with the No. 2 scoring defense (63.4) in conference play, and Ball State presents the No. 5 scoring defense (67.4).

“It’s going to be a defensive battle, without question,” said head coach Kathi Bennett. “… Possessions will be limited by the way they play defense and by the way we play defense.

“It won’t be a high-scoring affair. We’ll need to limit turnovers and shoot the ball from the perimeter well. Those will be keys for us to have a chance to win.”

Defensively, Bennett said it will be imperative that NIU slows down senior guard Brandy Woody and sophomore guard Nathalie Fontaine.

Woody leads the Cardinals with 11.5 points per game and 3.6 assists per game during conference play. She accounted for nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in 34 minutes in the Feb. 9 matchup.

“Woody leads their offense and is able to get to the rim,” Bennett said. “We need to do a good job of containing her and making her work.”

Fontaine leads Ball State with 6.3 rebounds per game during MAC play and a 49.7 field-goal percentage, which includes a number of putbacks at the rim. She paced the Cardinals with 18 points on 60 percent (6-10) shooting from the field and 100 percent (4-4) shooting at the free-throw line when the teams first meet.

“With Fontaine, we have to keep her off the offensive glass,” Bennett said. “She gets a lot of second-chance opportunities, and we need to limit that.”

The Huskies are coming off a 54-45 loss to the Eastern Michigan Eagles Sunday in Ypsilanti, Mich. It was a loss that kept the Huskies out of the top eight seeds.

If the season ended today, the Huskies would be the No. 9 seed and would have to hit the road for the first round of the MAC Tournament; however, they still have a chance to move into the top eight and host a playoff game should they win their last two games and get some help.

“They’re hungry,” Bennett said. “We know we blew an opportunity at Eastern Michigan. They’re mad. They’ve come back hungry and really want this win at Ball State.”