Strong defense was not enough for the women's basketball team Saturday afternoon as the Bulls dropped another Mid-American Conference game to the Northern Illinois Huskies.
The Bulls (6-14, 1-7 MAC) held the Huskies (13-6, 5-3 MAC) without a field goal for the final 4:54 of the second half. However, the Bulls were unable to finish a come-from-behind victory due in large part to the Huskies' prowess at the free throw line. The Huskies were 16-22 from the line for the game, and went 5-6 from the charity stripe in the closing minutes.
"They had 16 points from free throws, the difference between us was on the free-throw line," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "I think they took advantage of forcing us to foul on seconds shots or third shots, that is where we should consistently be improved."
Both teams had their bright spots in the first half, as the Huskies started the game on a 9-2 run. Yet the Bulls ended the first half on a 14-5 run, including a lay-up at the buzzer by freshman forward Kourtney Brown. The Bulls went into halftime after a low scoring first half with a lead of 25-23.
The second half was played tightly, with neither team taking more than a four-point advantage, until the Huskies pulled ahead by five points with just over seven minutes left in the game. That lead expanded to nine over the following minutes, yet the Bulls did not go away without a fight.
Led by junior guard Stephanie Bennett's four three's the Bulls scrapped their way back to within two at 55-53 with 35 seconds left in the game. After two free throws from Huskies' guard Stephanie Raymond, the Bulls came out of a timeout down four, 57-53. Buffalo looked unorganized after this timeout, and in a race against the clock took too long to get a shot off. Eventually sophomore forward Jamie Schiebner put up a three with one second left on the clock. Schiebner's shot would not fall, and after a final second free throw, the Huskies came away with a 58-53 victory.
"Everyone is just waiting and waiting for someone else to do something, we really need someone step out to do something," Schiebner said. "They're standing around waiting for it to happen instead of making it happen."
Junior forward Heather Turner was plagued by foul trouble throughout the game and only played 20 minutes. Her four points and three rebounds were both well below her season averages 12.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Picking up the slack for Turner was a duo of underclassmen. Schiebner scored 10 points and brought down nine rebounds while playing 37 of the 40 minutes in the game. Brown also played a vast majority of the game, playing 36 minutes and putting in 10 points to go along with five rebounds. Bennett led the Bulls with 12 points, all on three-pointers. Bennett was 4-6 from three-point-land.
Freshman guard Ashley Zuber saw plenty of action, holding the Huskies' point guard Stephanie Raymond, to only seven points. Raymond came into the game second in the MAC in scoring with 19.5 points per game.
The Bulls also got contributions from sophomore guard Rachelle Matthys. In 18 minutes of play she scored eight points and went a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
Mary Basic, who had a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds, led the Huskies. Jessie Wilcox also chipped in with 12 points and three rebounds in only 27 minutes of play.
Along with several players who were not suited up for the game Hill-McDonald wore pink in the NCAA's support for breast cancer. Many women's teams around the nation did the same.
The Bulls will continue their difficult stretch of the schedule when they play host to Ball State (16-3, 7-1 MAC) on Saturday. Including Ball State, the Bulls' previous three opponents conference record has been an impressive 18-4. The game between the two conference foes will tip off at 4 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
