For the second straight season, the NIU women’s basketball team had its season end on its home floor in the first round of the MAC tournament, losing 80-71 to Ball State on March 6.

The Huskies (12-16 overall, 7-9 MAC) beat Ball State 82-62 four days earlier to earn the first-round home game.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t be satisfied [with Tuesday’s victory], and I felt Ball State was definitely more ready to play today,” NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “Maybe they felt a little embarrassed about that game, and they were very aggressive. They really came at us defensively. We didn’t handle that very well.”

Ball State coach Tracy Roller’s team lost six straight games coming into the tournament but found a way to advance past the Huskies.

“We knew that it was going to have to take a mentality to come back here and win,” Roller said. “Northern was playing really well. I knew we’d at least have a chance to come up here and play more aggressively and more determined than we did last time. If we got ourselves a chance, I knew we’d make shots and get it done.”

NIU senior Jennifer Youngblood ended her career with 18 points and 15 rebounds, both team highs. Freshman Stephanie Raymond followed with 14 points and was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team. Youngblood earned Honorable Mention All-MAC while averaging 11 points and 9.9 rebounds on the season.

Ball State lost its next game to No. 1 seed Miami (Ohio) 85-71. The NCAA tournament automatic bid went to No. 2 seed Eastern Michigan, who beat No. 4 seed Bowling Green 65-56 for EMU’s first MAC tournament championship.

For NIU, the season started out with two straight wins over Loyola and Wisconsin, but despite the 2-0 start, sophomore forward Jamie Wilson was lost for the season after tearing her left ACL nine minutes into the first game of the season. She missed the entire 2002-’03 season as well, when she tore her right ACL during preseason workouts on Oct. 23, 2002.

The Huskies lost their next two games to Western Illinois at home and at Kansas State. The non-conference schedule ended for the Huskies losing 70-60 to then No. 20 ranked DePaul. The Huskies finished 5-7 in their non-conference schedule.

In the conference schedule, the Huskies opened up 0-2 before evening their record by beating Central Michigan and Ohio. A one-point win over Kent State put the Huskies at 4-3 in the conference the last week in January. However, NIU went on to lose five in a row and six of its next seven games in the MAC. NIU won the last two games over Central Michigan and Ball State to earn the eighth seed in the MAC Tournament and a home date with Ball State.