NIU women’s basketball has stepped up its game since its first meeting with Ball State earlier this season.

The Huskies (11-12, 5-6 MAC) lost to Ball State (8-16, 3-8 MAC) on Jan. 11, 50-43. NIU has won five of its eight games since that time, while Ball State has achieved just one victory in its last eight.

“We’re a better team since that time,” said NIU coach Kathi Bennett. “Ball State is a different team, as well. Our focus is we need to make less turnovers than we did last time.”

Huskies sophomore guard Ashley Sneed said the team has knowledge on their opponent and the skill required to earn a victory Thursday.

“We’re very familiar with Ball State,” Sneed said. “Our coaches did a great job with personnel and scouting. They even put scout reports on the bathroom stalls to get us ready. I think this time around we got them.”

Bennett shared Sneed’s feelings of confidence, but predicates it on whether NIU can play consistent basketball against a physical team.

“It’s a natural rivalry, and it will be physical,” Bennett said. “If we play like we did at Miami, then I think it shows we’ve made huge strides. Thursday’s game will be a good test to see how consistent we can be with good play.”

Sneed and Bennett both agree that the Huskies last win over Miami (Ohio) gave the team good momentum heading into this matchup.

“It should really give us some confidence because we did a lot of great things,” Bennett said. “All the things we’ve been doing repetition on showed up in that game, and hopefully there’s some carry-over. Throw records out the window; it will be a competitive, tough game.”

Along with momentum, the players will also have the memory of their previous defeat, with one thing in mind, proving that they are the better team to themselves and their opponent.

“We talk about it every day in the locker room,” Sneed said. “If anybody beats us, we always have a revenge mindset second time around. We want to get this game.”