It was senior night for Northern Illinois (17-12, 9-8 MAC) Wednesday, but Huskie senior guard Mikayla Voigt’s 30 points and seven 3-pointers weren’t enough to give Ball State Women’s Basketball (8-21, 3-14 MAC) its 11th consecutive loss.
Led by sophomore guard Maliah Howard-Bass’ 19 points, the Cardinals took down the Huskies, 67-64, breaking a 10-game losing streak.
“I asked [the team] to do two things today: to rebound and compete,” head coach Brady Sallee said. “I thought we hit the mark on both. [The Huskies] are a good basketball team, and we just had to be tough enough, whether it was rebounding or getting loose balls.”
Although it has been a season of transitions for the Cardinals, the team has continued to gain leadership from senior guards Jasmin Samz and Nakeya Penny. Samz ended Wednesday’s game with 18 points, and Penny’s six rebounds was tied for second on the team behind sophomore forward Oshlynn Brown who led the team with 12.
“You’re happy for Nakeya because she’s only got so many of these left,” Sallee said.
The Cardinals dominated the first quarter 22-9, which saw Samz go 5 for 6 from the field. The team also finished with 15 rebounds in the first quarter alone.
Northern Illinois began to show signs of life in the second quarter. After facing a 32-16 deficit, Voigt’s power propelled the Huskies to a 12-0 run to end the half. The Cardinals led 32-28 at halftime.
Samz and Voigt continued to lead both sides in the third. A 3-pointer from Voigt with five seconds left gave the Huskies momentum heading into the fourth, but the Cardinals held a 46-45 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
The Cardinals started the fourth on a 6-2 scoring run led by Brown and freshman guard Abi Haynes. The Huskies were far from quitting though as they tied the game at 64 with 38 seconds left in the game.
After the Cardinals took their final timeout, freshman forward Thelma Dis Agustsdóttir sealed the game with a game-winning three. The Cardinals took the game 67-64, their first on the road since an 86-83 win over Western Kentucky on Dec. 16.
“We hit our last-second shot, which is always exciting,” Sallee said. “[Agustsdóttir] executed it at a really high level, and we needed this one.”
While the Cardinals have faced adversity this season, Sallee continues to remain pleased with the team’s high levels of resiliency and work ethic. He said Wednesday’s win will give the Cardinals extra motivation heading into Saturday’s season finale.
“At the end of the day, the only thing painful is the record,” Sallee said. “These kids have been working their tails off and trying to get better. It culminated tonight against a really good team on their floor.”
The Cardinals will conclude the regular season March 9 at 2 p.m. against Eastern Michigan in Worthen Arena.
Contact Connor Smith with any comments at cnsmith@bsu.edu or on Twitter @cnsmithbsu.
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