The Huskies senior class of 2004 was awarded before the game with flowers and a plaque and rewarded after the game with an 82-62 win over rival Ball State.

Jennifer Youngblood, Lindsay Secrest, Monique Davis and Stephanie Smith combined for 47 of the team’s 82 points.

“I’m real proud of my team, especially my seniors,” NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “Going into the Ball State game, a couple of my seniors said there’s no way we’d lose the Ball State game or they’d shoot themselves.”

Youngblood had 18 points and 12 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and 36th of her career. The Rock Island native also added four assists.

“Jennifer has carried them all four years of her career,” Ball State coach Tracy Roller said. “When Jennifer Youngblood refuses to get stopped, it’s tough to beat them.”

Youngblood needs nine rebounds in the MAC tournament to move into fourth place on the all-time rebounding list for NIU and needs five rebounds to become one of five players to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in her career.

She is also fifth in MAC career rebounds, while starting every game as a Huskie.

Youngblood said it’s hard for her to think of herself in the upper echelon of NIU women’s basketball players, but she said she knew when she came to NIU that she and her fellow freshmen would make an impact.

“I think that we knew we wanted to do something,” Youngblood said. “We all pretty much had the same attitude that we were going to do it. I think what helped the most was staying together and holding each other responsible for maintaining that attitude.”

Point guard Monique Davis started for the first time since Dec. 2 and scored 15 points and added two steals. She needs three assists to move into the eighth spot all-time for assists at NIU.

Secrest shot 3-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-7 from three-point range and had five steals. She will finish her Huskies career second in three-point field goals made behind Denise Dove (1987-91) with 221.

As the only senior who didn’t start, Smith scored six points and and grabbed three rebounds in 17 minutes.

With the win, the Huskies earned a first-round home game in the MAC tournament on Saturday against Ball State, giving the Huskies seniors one last chance to play in front of the home fans.