Wednesday, February 7
DeKalb, IL
7 pm ET/ 6 pm CT
Ball State University
71
at
76
Northern Illinois University
Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics
Women’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaking OT Loss at NIU
February 07, 2024 | Women's Basketball
DEKALB, Ill. - The Cardinals like taking it down to the wire when playing the Huskies at the Convocation Center and tonight's contest was no different. The only difference was that Ball State found itself in the loss column for the first time in 14 games.
Unfortunately, for Ball State (20-3, 10-1 MAC) its success this season has put quite the target on the Cardinal's back and the win went to the Huskies (9-11, 3-6 MAC) as NIU won in overtime, 76-71, Wednesday evening in DeKalb.
The Cardinals struggled offensively from start to finish tonight. BSU had to play catch up the entirety of tonight's contest including in the fourth quarter of play.
Marie Kiefer along with Nyla Hampton helped the Cardinals to a late surge and a 64-63 lead with 16 seconds on the clock. Kiefer then fouled on the ensuing possession sending the Huskies' Laura Nickel to the line. Nickel only made one and the Cardinals were unable to score in their last second possession which sent the game into OT.
In the extra period, Ball State took advantage early, but the Huskies came back to go back on top of the Cardinals. NIU continued to control the tempo of overtime and even though the BSU got some nice looks at the basket, they couldn't get them to fall.
It was uncharacteristic but the Cardinals found themselves trailing the Huskies 10-3 at the 6:17 mark of the opening quarter of play. Kiefer's layup with 5:50 on the clock sparked a 13-4 run by Ball State which was capped off by another layup from teammate Alex Richard. That scoring spree would give the Cardinals' a 16-14 first quarter lead over the Huskies.
The second quarter was an up-and-down affair as both teams struggled causing both squads to make some unforeseen errors. NIU took the lead at the 3:34 mark and never looked back eventually taking a five-point (39-34) advantage over BSU at intermission.
After the break, both teams went scoreless for the first two minutes until Sidney McCrea drained a 3-pointer for NIU and Ally Becki answered back with a layup. The Cardinals continued to struggle offensively and suffered greatly from the 3-point line. Despite the lack of scoring, Ball State remained within reach of Northern Illinois. Estel Puiggros came off the bench and gave BSU life again with back-to-back baskets including a buzzer beater 3-pointer to knot the game 50-50 to end the third period.
For the contest, Madelyn Bischoff led the Cardinals with 14 points while teammate Hampton had 13 points and eight steals, tying her season high. Annie Rauch ended the night with 12 points and Kiefer rounded out the double figure scoring with 10.
The Ball State women's basketball team will take a break from Mid-American Conference action when it hosts James Madison in the second game of the MAC-Sun Belt Conference Challenge on Super Bowl Sunday at 2 pm ET in Worthen Arena. The game will be aired live on the CBS Sports Network.
Unfortunately, for Ball State (20-3, 10-1 MAC) its success this season has put quite the target on the Cardinal's back and the win went to the Huskies (9-11, 3-6 MAC) as NIU won in overtime, 76-71, Wednesday evening in DeKalb.
The Cardinals struggled offensively from start to finish tonight. BSU had to play catch up the entirety of tonight's contest including in the fourth quarter of play.
Marie Kiefer along with Nyla Hampton helped the Cardinals to a late surge and a 64-63 lead with 16 seconds on the clock. Kiefer then fouled on the ensuing possession sending the Huskies' Laura Nickel to the line. Nickel only made one and the Cardinals were unable to score in their last second possession which sent the game into OT.
In the extra period, Ball State took advantage early, but the Huskies came back to go back on top of the Cardinals. NIU continued to control the tempo of overtime and even though the BSU got some nice looks at the basket, they couldn't get them to fall.
It was uncharacteristic but the Cardinals found themselves trailing the Huskies 10-3 at the 6:17 mark of the opening quarter of play. Kiefer's layup with 5:50 on the clock sparked a 13-4 run by Ball State which was capped off by another layup from teammate Alex Richard. That scoring spree would give the Cardinals' a 16-14 first quarter lead over the Huskies.
The second quarter was an up-and-down affair as both teams struggled causing both squads to make some unforeseen errors. NIU took the lead at the 3:34 mark and never looked back eventually taking a five-point (39-34) advantage over BSU at intermission.
After the break, both teams went scoreless for the first two minutes until Sidney McCrea drained a 3-pointer for NIU and Ally Becki answered back with a layup. The Cardinals continued to struggle offensively and suffered greatly from the 3-point line. Despite the lack of scoring, Ball State remained within reach of Northern Illinois. Estel Puiggros came off the bench and gave BSU life again with back-to-back baskets including a buzzer beater 3-pointer to knot the game 50-50 to end the third period.
For the contest, Madelyn Bischoff led the Cardinals with 14 points while teammate Hampton had 13 points and eight steals, tying her season high. Annie Rauch ended the night with 12 points and Kiefer rounded out the double figure scoring with 10.
The Ball State women's basketball team will take a break from Mid-American Conference action when it hosts James Madison in the second game of the MAC-Sun Belt Conference Challenge on Super Bowl Sunday at 2 pm ET in Worthen Arena. The game will be aired live on the CBS Sports Network.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
/ Women's Basketball
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