DEKALB, Ill. – Western Michigan women's basketball suffered defeat on the road at the hands of Northern Illinois this afternoon, falling by a final score of 73-55. Today's result moves WMU to 14-10 on the season, and 8-7 against MAC opponents.

The initial 10 minutes began with the two teams trading buckets early on, as the score sat at 9-8 in favor of the Broncos at the first media timeout with 4:55 remaining in the quarter. The last five minutes of the first swung in favor of NIU, who closed the quarter on an 8-0 run, making the score at the end of one 16-9 Huskies.

The second quarter started with the same flow as the first, with Northern Illinois holding a 12-10 edge in the period and a 28-19 advantage in total. The Huskies continued their start to the second, ending the half on a 14-2 run to make the halftime tally 40-21 in favor of NIU. Junior guard Sydney Shafer led the way for WMU at the half with eight points on 3-4 from the field and 2-3 from deep.

Quarter number three echoed the same sentiments as the first half, with NIU outscoring Western Michigan 21-11 in the period. The opening minutes of the final quarter featured a nice effort from the Broncos, who were able to string together a few baskets for a 9-0 run of their own thanks to a pair of scores from Lauren Ross. Unfortunately, no late run would dig WMU out of the hole it was in, and the Huskies emerged victorious despite Western Michigan winning the fourth by a 23-12 margin.

Sydney Shafer finished as the high scorer for the Broncos, tallying 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists while Lauren Ross added 10 points, three boards, three steals, and two assists. Redshirt sophomore forward Taylor Williams also contributed nine points on 4-7 (57.1 percent) shooting and six rebounds as well.

The Broncos struggled from the floor today, connecting on 21 of 62 (33.9 percent) shot attempts and sinking 28.1 percent of their looks from beyond the arc. Northern Illinois found nylon on 29-57 (50.9 percent) shot attempts and 9-18 from deep. WMU scored 22 points in the painted area, pulled down 32 rebounds, dished out ten assists, and got in passing lanes for seven steals this afternoon. The Bronco reserves also outscored the Huskie bench 24-19 in the contest.

Western Michigan will now endure its last remaining quick turnaround of the regular season, traveling to Muncie, Ind. for the first meeting between the Broncos and Cardinals this season. The teams also face off in Kalamazoo on Wednesday for two matchups in three days. Tip-off against the Cardinals at Ball State on Feb. 21 is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be available for streaming via ESPN3.

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