It was a tough loss for the women’s basketball team as the Huskies fell Saturday at the Convocation Center to Bowling Green State, 49-60.

The Falcons (16-8, 7-4 MAC) were too much for the Huskies’ (7-17, 2-9 MAC) defense and made scoring look easy in the first half.

Red shirt senior forward Danielle Havel scored early and helped the Falcons take a 36-17 lead at the half. Havel shot 3-3 from behind the 3-point line and finished the game with 14 points. Senior guard Chrissy Steffen also had 14 points, shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-7 from behind the 3-point line.

Every player on the Falcons’ roster scored at one point in the game. Jennifer Roos, Bowling Green State head coach, was proud of her team’s win after a tough loss in its previous game.

“I’m really proud of our kids today and their effort,” Roos said. “As everybody knows, we had a disappointing loss. We lost at the buzzer against Western Michigan and that game stuck with us during the bye week. We wanted to come out today and shoot a better percentage from inside as well as from outside the arch, and I thought we did that.”

The Falcons made 10 3-point shots after attempting 23 on the night. Their spacing and screens opened up the floor for many open looks from behind the 3-point line and made it hard for NIU’s defenders to recover. Roos knew her players were facing a hot team in the Huskies and labeled this game a “must win.”

“This is a very difficult place to play,” Roos said. “[The Huskies] are on a roll, winning their last two over East opponents, so in my mind this was a must win for a couple different reasons. After the Western Michigan loss, we needed to shoot better. We typically have not played well in this venue and needed to represent the East.”

Represent they did as the Falcons were able to shoot 42.6 percent for the game even after NIU held them to 37.5 percent in the second half.

The Falcons’ 3-point shooting created a big gap early and made it difficult for the Huskies to climb back in. NIU head coach Kathi Bennett blamed the Huskies’ early perimeter defense for the loss.

“We got beat in the first half by the 3-point line,” Bennett said. “We gave up eight 3’s with our hands down. We needed to come out to compete with Bowling Green and make a statement that this is our home court and have energy, especially at the defensive end, and we didn’t do that.”

NIU gave up 12 points off turnovers and 20 points in the paint. After the Falcons dominated the first half, Bennett told her team to reset at halftime.

“I told them we know we are capable of playing a heck of a lot better defensively,” Bennett said. “We [have] to start playing better together offensively and chip ourselves back in. It was uncharacteristic to play like that defensively.”

The Huskies did come out with energy in the second half, but with every offensive push, the Falcons would fire back, keeping the lead in double digits. With the Huskies struggling to score, junior guard Ashley Sneed remained one of the bright spots of Saturday’s game. Sneed had eight points and six rebounds and played well offensively despite having to force a few shots late due to the Falcons’ big lead.

This is Sneed’s third straight game with eight points or more.

“Just my coaches and my teammates believing in me and telling me I can do it,” Sneed said. “I get it all from in practice, staying after shooting more and everybody having confidence in me, so it feels good. I just want us all to be on the same page.”

The Huskies continue to struggle at home as their last two wins came on the road. NIU will look to continue its recent road success as it faces conference rival Toledo on Wednesday. Toledo is currently on a nine-game winning streak and ranked first in the MAC with a 9-1 conference record.