Women's Basketball Loses At Northern Illinois

DEKALB, Ill. ? The Ball State women's basketball team (11-7, 4-1 MAC) dropped its first Mid-American Conference game Wednesday night after losing to Northern Illinois (9-9, 4-1 MAC) 76-72 in the Convocation Center.

Senior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) was two shy of tying her career-high with 26 points. Sophomore forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) chipped in 15 points while teammate senior guard Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North) netted 12 points. Despite missing the majority of the first half, junior forward Danielle Gratton (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Parl) ended the night with 10.

Northern Illinois opened the second half with a layup. The Huskies would then take control of the game at the 14:29 mark. NIU's biggest lead of the half was with 4:23 left to play, 65-52. The Cardinals tried everything to make a comeback chipping the Huskies lead down to 71-65 with 43 seconds remaining. Green would then hit a three-pointer to end the game but it wasn't enough as the Huskies went on to claim the victory.

Both teams went scoreless at the start of the game before Northern Illinois scored the first basket at the 17:28 mark. A three-pointer from Green and a free throw gave Ball State a 4-2 lead with 16:36 to play in the first half. Gratton would then leave the game after getting hit in the nose and would not return the remainder of the first half.

Northern Illinois led the majority of the first half with its biggest lead being 35-28 with 3:03 on the clock. Ball State went on a 8-0 run to end the half with baskets from Green, free throws from Jarrett and a jumper from sophomore Kyleigh Jones (Elwood, Ind./Elwood) to give Ball State a 36-35 edge at halftime.

The Ball State University women's basketball team continues its two-game roadswing when it travels to Akron Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff.

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Players Mentioned

Danielle Gratton

Porchia Green

Kiley Jarrett