A run in the MAC Tournament was not in store for the NIU women’s basketball team.

The Huskies (13-17, 7-10 MAC) dropped their first-round matchup against Ohio (9-21, 5-12 MAC), 72-56. An early exit by NIU was an upset, seeding-wise, being the seventh seed overall while the Bobcats were viewed as an underdog as the 10th seed.

“I’m just really disappointed that it’s over,” said Huskie head coach Kathi Bennett. “Because I really enjoyed this year and especially this group of seniors.”

The Bobcats devised a plan to eliminate NIU’s interior game. Using a 2-3 zone, Ohio’s defense made life difficult for the Huskies’ top inside players, center Ebony Ellis and Kim Davis. The interior duo combined for 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting in the first half. Ellis didn’t allow Ohio’s defense to disrupt her confidence, as she attacked the basket early on in the first half.

“[We] just struggled, putting the ball into the basket tonight,” Bennett said. “You have those nights, it was just one of those. But, stayed, aggressive the whole time, just couldn’t get it to fall.”

Whenever Ellis was fed the ball inside, it never came directly to her, as the Bobcats forced NIU to deliver the ball to their center in increments.

“We know that our defense is our foundation,” said Ohio head coach Semeka Randall, “It’s been good to us.”

Throughout the regular season, NIU guard Marke Freeman had always been there to pick up the pieces for its offense. But Sunday night at the Convocation Center, the redshirt senior struggled to find her flow on offense, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds in her final game as a Huskie.

“Credit to Ohio, they did a great job of packing the defense,” Freeman said.

With five minutes left to play, Ellis put in a lay up to cut the Bobcats lead to 54-44, the closest NIU had cut the lead.

But Ohio would answer with a 7-0 run, started off by a three-pointer by freshman Erin Bailes. The underclassmen finished with a game-high 23 points off the bench, going 5-for-7 from long distance.

“I love shooters,” said Ohio guard Tenishia Benson of Bailes. “And she’s just a flat out phenomenal shooter. Getting her in there and then shooting threes and then attacking the basket, and just being very versatile with her game allowed for myself… and other players to attack the basket.”