Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
10-10,6-3MAC
Northern Illinois
8-10, 4-4MAC
WBB Suffers 65-62 MAC Setback At Home Against NIU
January 31, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Doug Zaleski
BallStateSports.com
Ball State women's basketball coach Brady Sallee couldn't conceal his frustration with the way his team performed Saturday in a 65-62 loss to Northern Illinois.
With five minutes left in the game, a Cardinal player sent a pass from the top of the key into the low post, but the ball sailed high and went out of bounds for one of their 16 turnovers.
Clearly frustrated, all Sallee could do was plop down on a chair and hold his hands over his head.
“I'm disappointed with how we looked out there,” he said, summing up 40 minutes of mistake-plagued basketball that was sparked by a lack of intensity from his players. “That usually points to a team that wasn't truly ready to go. At this point of the conference season, if you're not ready to go, that's what it's going to look like.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror in this (coming) off week and get things figured out.”
The Cardinals fell in Worthen Arena to a Huskies team that came into the game with a 0-4 record in Mid-American Conference road games.
But Sallee said Northern Illinois out-toughed Ball State (10-10, 6-3 MAC) and his unit didn't respond with the level of fight necessary to win. The Huskies (8-10, 4-4 MAC) led the final 35 minutes.
Ball State has lost its past two home games.
“I hope it's a blip, but there's been some consistency (issues) with the culprits, and we have to get that figured out,” Sallee said. “… It's a rarity when you see us look that inept defensively, and we looked that inept: falling down, getting lost. That usually points to not being ready to go between our ears.”
Northern Illinois shot 48 percent from the field, and senior guard Amanda Corral dictated play with 26 points (four shy of her career high), a career-best eight assists and six rebounds.
Cardinals senior Shelbie Justice, who had 12 points, echoed her coach's assessment on Ball State being outhustled.
“We just didn't have any energy until the last 5 minutes, and you can't win a basketball game like that,” she said. “You have to play like that over the full 40 minutes, and it can't be just certain people.
“(Players) have to buy into it. You can't say, 'We're going to do this, we're going to do that.' They have to deep down want to do it, and if they don't, it's not going to happen.”
The Cardinals' only sustained burst in the game came with a frantic push in the closing minutes.
Jill Morrison shot Ball State within striking distance when she made a 3-pointer with 2:20 to go, closing Northern Illinois' lead to 63-57.
Nathalie Fontaine brought Ball State within 63-58 on a free throw with 1:45 left. The Cardinals forced turnovers on the Huskies' next two possessions, and Fontaine made a fast-break layup to bring Ball State within 63-60 with 26.5 seconds to go.
That's where the rally ended, however. Ball State still trailed by three with 6.9 seconds to go when Northern Illinois inbounded against a full-court press and the ball bounced out of bounds.
The ball initially was awarded to the Huskies, but a replay review gave it to the Cardinals. Shelby Merder misfired on a 3-point shot with 4 seconds left that would have tied the score.
Northern's Ally Lehman missed two free throws with 3.1 seconds to go, giving the Cardinals one more chance. But Candyce Ussery's shot just inside the half-court line to send the game to overtime was off target.
Fontaine and Renee Bennett, who made her seventh start of the season, led the Cardinals with 14 points apiece. Fontaine also had a game-high eight rebounds.
Saturday's loss knocked the Cardinals out of a tie for first place in the MAC West. Western Michigan improved to 7-2 by beating Miami, and Ball State is a game behind the Broncos at 6-3.
Ball State won't play again until Feb. 7, when it travels to Toledo.
