With a trip to Cleveland, the NIU women’s basketball team was ready to make some noise in the MAC Tournament.

Unfortunately, a slow start proved to be too much for the Huskies to overcome, as they dropped a 75-67 decision to Kent State in the opening round.

The Golden Flashes shot 53 percent in the first half, while holding NIU to 32 percent shooting, including 17 percent from 3-point range.

The Huskies’ (10-18 overall, 6-8 MAC) slow start led to a 21-point deficit with 3:55 left in the first half. However, NIU was able to erase some of that and go into halftime trailing 41-25.

The Huskies were able to climb back in the second half, eventually tying the game at 60 with 4:54 to go, but that would be as close as NIU would get.

Kent State shot 9–12 on free throws in the second half to help secure the victory. In the entire game the Golden Flashes shot 17–of–24 from the charity stripe, while the Huskies were only 2–for–6.

NIU guard Kylie York led the Huskies in scoring with 17 points, including 15 of those from behind the arc.

Forwards Becky Smith and Shari’ Welton also finished in double–digits, with 10 and 11 points.

Senior forward Whitney Lowe led NIU in rebounding, pulling down nine boards and chipping in seven points in the loss.

Kent State (9-20,5-11) was paced by a double-double from forward Chenel Harris with 15 points and 10 boards, while guard Ashley Harkins added 13 points.

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