MUNCIE, Ind. - The Northern Illinois University women's basketball team could not keep pace with the three-point shooting of the Ball State Cardinals early in Wednesday night's game at Worthen Arena as the Cardinals pulled away for an 83-48 victory.

NIU (4-18, 2-9 MAC) did shoot a season-high 87.5 percent from the free throw line, making 14-of-16 attempts. Nevaeh Wingate (Liverpool, N.Y./St. John's) was 5-for-5 from the charity stripe on the night in leading the Huskies with 12 points. Sa'Mahn Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) added 10 points off the bench.

Ball State (18-5, 10-1 MAC) and NIU traded baskets to start the game, playing to a 7-7 tie. The Cardinals' Grace Kingery broke the tie with her first three-pointer of the game at the 5:20 mark to put Ball State up 10-7. Wingate responded with a three of her own with 4:11 to play in the quarter, followed by a Teresa Mbemba (Benguela, Angola/Presbyterian) free throw that put the Huskies up 11-10. Ball State closed the quarter on a 7-2 run with Kingery scoring the last five points to give the Cardinals a 17-13 lead.

Kingery and Nadechka Laccen (San Juan, Puerto Rico/St. Bonaventure) traded threes to start the second quarter, with Kingery's fourth three of the game putting Ball State ahead 23-16 with 8:52 to go until halftime. Johnson knocked in a jumper at the 6:42 mark to get NIU within five, 23-18, but that wound up being the Huskies' final field goal of the first half. Ball State outscored NIU 20-3 in the final 6:31 of the quarter, with Kingery's sixth three of the half sparking a 12-0 run that put the Cardinals ahead 43-21 at halftime.

"Ball State is a well-oiled machine," said head coach Jacey Brooks. "We were able to hang with them in the first quarter because we were getting defensive stops so we could flow into our offense. When that stopped happening in the second, we also struggled to score. You have to play well for a full 40 minutes to have a chance against team like Ball State and we didn't do that tonight."

The Cardinals shot 73.3 percent from the field in the third quarter and outscored NIU 31-10 to take a 74-31 lead. Mbemba and Johnson combined for 10 points in the fourth quarter as the Huskies took the quarter 17-9 to make the final score 83-48.

Kingery led all scorers with 23 points, going 7-for-8 from the three-point line. Tessa Towers added 12 points and five rebounds for Ball State. The Cardinals shot 58.5 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from long range.

The Huskies open a three-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 7 against Texas State in the MAC-SBC Challenge for National Girls and Women In Sports Day. TIp-off at the NIU Convocation Center is at 1 p.m. Tickets are on sale at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225). There will be a pre-game kids clinic on Saturday in Victor E. Court with registration opening at 11 a.m. and the clinic starting at 11:45 a.m.

—NIU—