DEKALB, Ill. – Senior guard Mikayla Voigt (Slinger, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) led all scorers on Senior Night Wednesday at the NIU Convocation Center with 30 points, but the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team needed three more to force overtime in a 67-64 loss to the Ball State Cardinals.
 
"Obviously, we're disappointed in the outcome but I think you have to credit Ball State," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "They did a really nice job on both ends of the floor of making things difficult and, in the end, made more plays than we did to win."
 
Voigt was 10-for-25 from the field with seven three-pointers and tied a career-high with five steals. Ally May (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) had a game-high seven assists to go with 10 points.
 
"As a senior, there's only so many games left," said Voigt, who scored at least 30 points for the fourth time this season. "We just want to go out and win."
 
Voigt had a chance to put the game into overtime after Ball State's Thelma dis Agustsdottir made a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to put the Cardinals ahead 67-64. After an NIU timeout, May threw a crosscourt in-bounds pass to Voigt who got behind the three-point line and put up the shot that was just short.
 
Ball State (8-21, 3-14 MAC) led 55-49 with 6:25 to go in the game after Agustsdottir's first three of the game. Voigt then scored 13 of NIU's next 15 points to give NIU a 64-62 lead with 1:45 to go. The senior made a three with 2:18 left to tie the game at 62, then put the Huskies ahead with a layup assisted by May. Ball State responded with an Oshlynn Brown layup with 0:40 to go. Brown had a chance for a three-point play but missed the free throw. NIU then turned the ball over on its next possession, which set up the Cardinals to take the lead.
 
NIU (17-12, 9-8 MAC) got behind early Wednesday night, trailing 22-9 after the first quarter. The Huskies trailed 32-16 with 5:08 to go in the second when May, Voigt, and Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) combined for all 12 points of an NIU run that got it within four at halftime, 32-28. The run extended into the third quarter, when back-to-back baskets by Nikitinaite and Starks tied the game at 32 with 7:52 left in the period. The Huskies took a 40-39 lead at the 2:47 mark on a Starks jumper. Ball State then scored the next seven points as a pair of Brown free throws put the Cardinals back ahead 46-40 with 1:07 to go. NIU cut the deficit to one at the end of the quarter, with a May layup and Voigt three making the score 46-45.
 
"Our defensive intensity picked up in the second quarter, and that allowed us to get back in the game," Carlsen said. "When we were able to make them uncomfortable in the defensive end, we were able to get out and go offensively and that got us going."
 
NIU shot 33.3 percent from the field and was 7-for-26 from the three-point line. Ball State shot 40 percent from the field and made 10-of-11 free throws. The Cardinals also held a 48-45 edge on the glass. Maliah Howard-Bass led Ball State with 19 points as Jasmin Samz added 18 points.

"We're looking for momentum, and this is a disappointing loss," said Carlsen. "To lose your last regular season game at home is not how anybody wants to go out. It'll be important for us to go to Kalamazoo, regardless of who the opponent is Monday, and really try and right the ship a bit. There are some things we did well tonight, and we have to be better in certain situations to give ourselves an opportunity."
 
The Huskies close the regular season on the road Saturday, March 9 at Western Michigan. Tip-off is at 1 p.m.
 
--NIU--