Monday, March 15, 2004
Women’s basketball loses again in 1st round
Ball State tops Huskies in tourney opener at home
Article by:
Adam Zolmierski - Sports Reporter
• azolmierski@northernstar.info
For the second straight season, the NIU women’s basketball team
had its season end on its home floor in the first round of the MAC tournament,
losing 80-71 to Ball State on March 6.
The Huskies (12-16 overall, 7-9 MAC) beat Ball State 82-62 four days
earlier to earn the first-round home game.
“I was hoping we wouldn’t be satisfied [with Tuesday’s
victory], and I felt Ball State was definitely more ready to play today,”
NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. “Maybe they felt a little embarrassed
about that game, and they were very aggressive. They really came at
us defensively. We didn’t handle that very well.”
Ball State coach Tracy Roller’s team lost six straight games coming
into the tournament but found a way to advance past the Huskies.
“We knew that it was going to have to take a mentality to come
back here and win,” Roller said. “Northern was playing really
well. I knew we’d at least have a chance to come up here and play
more aggressively and more determined than we did last time. If we got
ourselves a chance, I knew we’d make shots and get it done.”
NIU senior Jennifer Youngblood ended her career with 18 points and
15 rebounds, both team highs. Freshman Stephanie Raymond followed with
14 points and was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team. Youngblood earned
Honorable Mention All-MAC while averaging 11 points and 9.9 rebounds
on the season.
Ball State lost its next game to No. 1 seed Miami (Ohio) 85-71. The
NCAA tournament automatic bid went to No. 2 seed Eastern Michigan, who
beat No. 4 seed Bowling Green 65-56 for EMU’s first MAC tournament
championship.
For NIU, the season started out with two straight wins over Loyola
and Wisconsin, but despite the 2-0 start, sophomore forward Jamie Wilson
was lost for the season after tearing her left ACL nine minutes into
the first game of the season. She missed the entire 2002-’03 season
as well, when she tore her right ACL during preseason workouts on Oct.
23, 2002.
The Huskies lost their next two games to Western Illinois at home and
at Kansas State. The non-conference schedule ended for the Huskies losing
70-60 to then No. 20 ranked DePaul. The Huskies finished 5-7 in their
non-conference schedule.
In the conference schedule, the Huskies opened up 0-2 before evening
their record by beating Central Michigan and Ohio. A one-point win over
Kent State put the Huskies at 4-3 in the conference the last week in
January. However, NIU went on to lose five in a row and six of its next
seven games in the MAC. NIU won the last two games over Central Michigan
and Ball State to earn the eighth seed in the MAC Tournament and a home
date with Ball State.
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