Despite being the youngest team in the Mid-American Conference tournament, the NIU women’s basketball squad used a solid defense to advance to the third round. The freshman-dominated Huskies advanced farther than more experienced teams, such as Buffalo.

But sooner or later, the Huskies’ inexperience would lead to a postseason roadblock.

It came in the form of a veteran Toledo club, seeded first in the MAC tourney and owning a 14-game winning streak. The Rockets, the eventual tourney champs, used a suffocating first-half defensive effort to cruise to a 58-38 semifinal victory over NIU on March 8. The tournament win gave Toledo an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, where it fell to Jackie Stiles and Southwest Missouri State 89-71 in the first round.

“Toledo is very experienced,” NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “They have players like Kahli Carter who have been in the championship game four times now, and they know what to expect. This is still a new experience for our players, and that’s tough.”

The Huskies managed to keep it close early with their defense, forcing several Rocket turnovers. Freshman Lindsay Secrest hit a jumper to draw the fourth-seeded Huskies to within 13-10 midway through the first half.

But NIU went scoreless for the rest of the half and trailed 31-10 at intermission. The 10-point total marks the lowest halftime accumulation by an NIU team since 1976. NIU, which bows out with a 16-16 record, connected on just 20 percent of its shots in the first half and just 29 for the game. Not one Huskie reached double digits, as Kristan Knake led the Huskies with 9 points, but hit just 4 of 12 from the field. Senior Mickey Johnson went just 1 of 7.

“We did some good things defensively in the game,” Hammerle said. “But our offense was never able to get established, and Toledo played a large role in that.”

Seconds after tipoff, Carter notched the game’s first points on a drive to the hoop, and after that, the Huskies could never get their offense on track. They never led in the contest.

“For a lot of players on the team, not hitting the first shot does a lot to keep us from establishing a rhythm,” Knake said. “We started to hurry and got out of our offensive system every time down the court.”

Still, the loss can’t take away from the Huskies’ season, as the 16-16 finish marks NIU’s winningest season since 1995. The Huskies’ future also looks

promising, as they will return every key player except Johnson next season.

“This was a rewarding experience for me personally,” said Johnson, one of just two seniors on the squad. “This is the best team I have played on in my career, and I am glad we were able to make it this far.”