NIU falls on the road, drops to third in MAC West

By Andy Pruski

DeKALB | To make a run for the MAC West championship, the NIU women’s basketball team is going to need a little help. Now, if only it could help itself.

The Huskies got some help when Western Michigan defeated MAC West-leading Ball State. Unfortunately, the Huskies also lost 71-63 to Central Michigan on Saturday at Mount Pleasant, Mich.

NIU (16-9 overall, 7-6 MAC) now drops to third in the MAC West behind Eastern Michigan, which won its game this weekend. The Huskies had a chance to be just two games back of Ball State with the two teams meeting in the final game of the season before losing to Central Michigan (11-15, 3-10), the last-place team in the MAC West.

“Our seniors had a tough game,” said NIU head coach Carol Owens. “We just didn’t show up to play. There’s no explanation for it. We played down to the level of our opponent and that’s not acceptable.”

NIU shot just 32 percent for the game and got out-rebounded 48-40, despite NIU leading the MAC in rebounding and CMU being last.

Kristin Wiener led the Huskies in rebounding, grabbing 10 boards. She also scored 12 points, but shot just 3-14 from the field.