Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
15-10 (11-3MAC)
Northern Illinois
10-14 (6-8MAC)
WBB Pulls Out 51-50 MAC Road Win At NIU
February 22, 2015 | Women's Basketball
DEKALB, Ill. - The Ball State women's basketball team remained on top of the Mid-American Conference West Division with its 51-50 last second win at Northern Illinois Saturday night in the Convocation Center.
With the win, the Cardinals improve to 15-10 overall and 11-3 in league play while the Huskies fall to 10-14 on the year and 6-8 in conference action.
"We had to win the game on the defensive end of the floor and I thought that was where we were sharp tonight," Ball State head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee said. “ I think we executed well down the stretch. We were two good defensive teams going at it down the stretch and we were one possession better."
For the game, sophomore Renee Bennett led the Cardinals with 14 points while pulling down five rebounds. Junior Nathalie Fontaine tallied 12 points and added five rebounds to the victory. Senior Shelbie Justice, sophomore Jill Morrison and sophomore Calyn Hosea each ended the night with six points apiece.
Hosea started the second half off with a layup but the second half mimicked the first half as both teams played tough defensively.
The last tie came at the 8:56 mark when the Huskies, Alex Dumoulin, hit a jumper which made it a 39-39 ball game. Over the next four minutes of play, the Cardinals orchestrated a 5-0 run which was capped off by a three-point play from Morrison to put Ball State up 46-41 with 4:27 left on the clock.
Ball State continued its momentum and would take their largest lead of the second half, 51-43, with 1:26 remaining in the ball game. Northern Illinois closed the game with a 7-0 run that made it a 51-50 ball game with 36 second left in the contest. The Huskies would have the ball out of bounds with .03 seconds left but couldn't get a shot off in time resulting in a victory for the Cardinals.
Ball State started the game off with a 13-4 run to take a nine-point lead by the 14:44 mark in the first half after baskets from Bennett, Justice, Fontaine and Morrison. Northern Illinois quickly responded with a 12-5 run to take their first lead (16-15) at the 9:28 mark.
After that, both teams traded baskets which resulted in five ties and five lead changes. The Huskies held on to a two-point advantage (23-21) for over a two minute span before Bennett knocked down her free throws with 1:06 remaining to tie the game 23-23 at the half.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues Mid-American Conference action at home Wednesday against Eastern Michigan for a 7 p.m. tipoff in Worthen Arena.
