With a trip to Cleveland, the NIU women’s basketball team was ready to make some noise in the MAC Tournament.

Unfortunately, a slow start proved to be too much for the Huskies to overcome, as they dropped a 75-67 decision to Kent State in the opening round.

The Golden Flashes shot 53 percent in the first half, while holding NIU to 32 percent shooting, including 17 percent from 3-point range.

The Huskies’ (10-18 overall, 6-8 MAC) slow start led to a 21-point deficit with 3:55 left in the first half. However, NIU was able to erase some of that and go into halftime trailing 41-25.

The Huskies were able to climb back in the second half, eventually tying the game at 60 with 4:54 to go, but that would be as close as NIU would get.

Kent State shot 9-12 on free throws in the second half to help secure the victory. In the entire game the Golden Flashes shot 17-of-24 from the charity stripe, while the Huskies were only 2-for-6.

NIU guard Kylie York led the Huskies in scoring with 17 points, including 15 of those from behind the arc.

Forwards Becky Smith and Shari’ Welton also finished in double-digits, with 10 and 11 points.

Senior forward Whitney Lowe led NIU in rebounding, pulling down nine boards and chipping in seven points in the loss.

Kent State (9-20,5-11) was paced by a double-double from forward Chenel Harris with 15 points and 10 boards, while guard Ashley Harkins added 13 points.