Clamoring for their first conference victory, the Huskies can now say they have it.

Taking on Ball State at the Convocation Center on Wednesday night, the women’s basketball team came out strong and would not relent until it had a 73-62 victory.

Leading the Huskies (7-11 overall, 1-4 MAC) was senior guard Marke Freeman with a career-high nine steals and season-high tying 30 points.

Freeman set the tone of the game, grabbing two of her steals on the first two plays of the game.

The Cardinals’ (7-11, 2-3) head coach Kelly Packard said Freeman’s efforts at the beginning set the tone of the game.

“She makes it tough,” Packard said of Freeman. “We know how good she is. There is a lot of change of pace to her game, quick stop and elevate.”

In the first half the Huskies showed the “pack” defense, head coach Kathi Bennett has been teaching, gathering 11 steals and 18 defensive rebounds.

“In the first half that’s the most focused we have been for 20 minutes,” Bennett said. “We knew the first five minutes were crucial.”

The strong efforts on the boards made it difficult for Ball State to score. The team remained goose-egged for just over six minutes of the game until guard Brandy Woody scored on a free throw.

NIU knew Cardinals’ Emily Maggert would not remain scoreless, however. The senior leads the team and ranks seventh in the MAC, averaging 16.1 points per game.

Forward Kim Davis had the task of guarding the 6’1″ forward after NIU’s Ebony Ellis and Shaakira Haywood got into foul trouble.

“I knew it was going to be on me to step up and play defense like I know I can,” Davis said. “The team knows that we all can together as a unit. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I [had] to do it.”

Davis would finish her night holding Maggert to seven points, while gathering a steal, block and team-leading seven rebounds.

“Kim [did a] tremendous job on Maggert,” Bennett said. “Just physically tough. She out-toughed her tonight.”

Offensively, the Huskies shot 43.1 percent from the field on 58 attempts. Freeman’s 30 points came off of 10 shots on 14 attempts from the field, along with 10 from the free throw line. She credits her teammates with helping her ability to score.

“My main thing coming in was knowing my role and getting my shots through the offense and relying on my teammates, trusting them,” Freeman said. “They relieved me of a lot of pressure.”