DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team erased a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter Wednesday night to force overtime against the Ball State Cardinals at the NIU Convocation Center, but an Anna Clephane putback layup with 1.3 seconds left let Ball State escape with an 83-82 win.
 
"As a fan, that was a great basketball game to watch," said head coach Lisa Carlsen following the game. "It's a tough one for us to swallow because we fought and fought to get back to even at the end of regulation and got off to a good start in overtime. We didn't do what we needed to down the stretch and Ball State did so you give them credit for that. Our kids were real resilient and now we get ready for our next game on Saturday."
 
NIU (3-7, 0-2 MAC) trailed 60-49 with less than a minute to go in the third quarter. Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) scored six straight points to start an 8-0 run that got the Huskies within three, 60-57, with 8:55 remaining in regulation. Ball State extended its lead to six points with 3:05 to play when a Sydney Freeman three and an Anna Clephane layup made the score 70-64. NIU was down 72-67 with under 2:00 to play when A'Jah Davis (DeKalb, Ill./Montverde Academy [Fla.]) sparked a 7-0 Huskies run that put them up 74-72 with 0:34 to play. Davis' three-point play with 0:34 gave NIU its first lead of the game. The Cardinals tied the game with 0:16 to go on a Jazmyn Turner layup. Koker had a chance to win the game in regulation but her layup at the horn would not fall in.
 
"I never feel like we're out of a game with this team," Carlsen said. "They have been through a lot in the last few years and many of them have been on the floor in tight situations and competitive games. I don't worry about us continuing to fight and you saw that in the fourth quarter where we got ourselves in a position to get to overtime."
 
The Huskies opened overtime on a 6-0 run highlighted by a Koker triple to take an 80-74 lead with 2:20 left. The Cardinals got a Clephane free throw and a Freeman three-pointer to get within two, 80-78, with 1:25 to go in the extra session. Koker put the Huskies back up four with a layup at the 0:41 mark, making the score 82-78. Ball State went down the floor and got another Freeman three to cut the lead to one at 82-81 with 0:36 to go. The Cardinals got a stop on NIU's next possession and earned a chance to take the lead at the foul line when Marie Kiefer was fouled with 3.6 seconds left. Kiefer missed both free throws, but Clephane tipped in the rebound of the second miss to give Ball State an 83-82 lead with 1.3 seconds left. NIU was unable to get a shot off on its final possession, allowing the Cardinals to escape with the overtime win.
 
Ball State (8-4, 1-1 MAC) opened the game on an 11-2 run, making three straight three-pointers to start. The Cardinals led by as much as 13 in the first quarter before a 7-2 Huskies run got NIU within eight, 25-17, at the close of the opening period. The run extended to 15-5 run in the second quarter as threes from Janae Poisson (Matteson, Ill./Marian Catholic) and Sidney McCrea (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) got NIU within three points at 28-25 with 4:30 to go until halftime. The Huskies were down 35-32 with less than two minutes in the first half when an Annie Rauch layup and a Freeman three gave Ball State a 40-32 halftime lead.
 
Koker led all scorers with 28 points, one shy of her season-high of 29 against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 4. She scored 22 of her points in the second half and overtime, adding six rebounds and three assists. Poisson had 17 points to tie a season-high. Davis posted her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds as Errin Hodges (Pontiac, Ill./Evansville Central [Ind.]) also scored 12 points. Clephane led Ball State with 22 points as Freeman added 20.
 
Ball State shot 44.9 percent from the field to NIU's 42.9 and outrebounded the Huskies 45-42. NIU committed a season-low eight turnovers and scored 14 points off of 11 Cardinals turnovers.
 
NIU goes on the road this Saturday, Jan. 8 to take on MAC preseason favorites the Ohio Bobcats at 12 p.m. CT.
 
--NIU--