Ball State University
Northern Illinois
Women's Basketball Tallies 64-62 Win at Northern Illinois
January 09, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Ball State's women's basketball team improved to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play with a 64-62 victory at Northern Illinois Saturday.
Danielle Gratton, who scored the final five points of the game for Ball State, hit a 3-foot jumper from the right side with :00.4 left in the game to secure the win for the Cardinals.
In a game that came down to the final minutes of play, Northern Illinois was able to grab a 54-53 lead and held steady until a Gratton three pointer from the right side tied the game at 62-62 with :50.1 left.
On the ensuing Northern Illinois possession, Ball State's Ty'Ronda Benning's steal at the top of the three point arc with time running out on the shot clock gave the Cardinals the ball back with :27.4 remaining. After a Ball State time out, the Cardinals set up a play and Gratton's bucket gave Ball State a 2-0 MAC start.
"Danielle was willing to step up in a pressure situation and take a big shot," Ball State head coach Kelly Packard says. "For her to be willing to take those final two shots was big for us. She doesn't knock down that three and we are in a totally different situation."
After Gratton's game-winning heroics, the Huskies were only able to muster a final buzzer beater to fall to 6-8 overall and 0-2 in MAC play.
Ball State featured a balanced scoring attack with six players contributing on the offensive end. Emily Maggert led the Cardinals with 20 points and eight rebounds. Gratton added 13 points, three rebounds, one assist and one block. Benning managed 11 points and seven rebounds for the Cardinals.
"That was an extremely competitive game," Packard says. "Give Northern Illinois credit for a very hard fought game. We are trying to pick up some confidence and we made some big shots which will help down the road."
In a first half dominated by Northern Illinois' junior guard Marke Freeman, the halftime margin came down to a 30-30 deadlock. Freeman, who managed 19 first-half points for the Huskies, ended the game with 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field, including 6-of-10 from three point range.
"She was the factor in the game," Packard says. "We made an adjustment to face guard her or she would have been able to score 40 points. She is an amazing scorer."
Ball State evened its record at 7-7 overall and will play at Central Michigan Tuesday.
