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After two blowouts to start the day, the 4 vs 5 matchup brought the usual closeness we expect out of it as Northern Illinois fell to Ball State 60-54. Ball State will now go on to face the top seed Toledo Rockets who defeated Ohio 80-67 earlier today.
The Lady Cardinals hung on to win thanks in part to big nights from Ally Becki with 15, Estel Puiggros with 12 while Sydney Freeman and Thelma Dis Agustsdottir had 10 each. Freeman had 5 of the teams 10 assists as they spread the ball out nicely and controlled the clock when they could. The Cardinals did their damage from deep as they it 10 as a team with 3 each coming from Thelma and Beckie each.
The Huskies were paced by A’Jah Davis who poured in 17 while her teammate Jayden Marable scored 14. They also saw Janae Poisson hit double digits with 13, but it just wasn’t enough.
Northern Illinois actually led 24-11 after one and appeared to be in firm control before the Cardinals began their comeback. Ball State clamped down on defense and cut the lead down to 34-24 by half.
It was in the third that the Cardinals began to make their move. The Cardinals used a big third quarter from Becki with 7 points, as she helped cut the lead to 44-40 after 3, and put the momentum squarely on the side of Ball State. They used mini runs of 6-0 and 4-0 to get back in it throughout the quarter.
The comeback was in full mode in the fourth as they used a Becki three ball and then two foul shots from Latimer to take the lead at 46-45. The Huskies retook the lead a few minutes later and led 48-47 with 5:44 remaining in the contest.
The Cardinals answered again, this time with buckets by Keifer and Puiggros to recapture the lead 51-48 with 4:17 to go. The Cardinals would go on to win from there.
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