The Bowling Green women’s basketball team clinched their first outright Mid-American Conference title since 1994 and earned a number one seed in next week’s MAC tournament with a 75-72 win over Northern Illinois in DeKalb last night.

The Falcons (20-7, 13-3 MAC) used a gutty performance from injured forward Ali Mann to get a lift over the pesky Huskies (7-20, 4-12) at the Convocation Center in DeKalb last night.

Mann, who was doubtful for the game with a sprained ankle, scored 20 points coming off the bench for the Falcons in her 24 minutes of play.

“Without her I don’t know what we would’ve done,” BG head coach Curt Miller said. “The emotional lift and her play was obviously fantastic.”

The Falcons were hoping to save Mann for the MAC tournament next week but thanks to a great effort from Northern were forced to put her in.

“I didn’t want to play her,” Miller said. “But we needed a spark and I thought she might give us a spark.”

“She got in there, looked at me and said she felt okay so we went with it.”

The game started as a nightmare for the Falcons as the Huskies refused to go away.

It was senior night for the Huskies and it showed as the Northern seniors had 22 points by half and held onto a 32-30 lead going into the locker room.

Things got even worse for the Falcons as they were down 69-62 with just over six minutes on the clock.

“I didn’t think we were going to get it done,” Miller said. “But this team has been resilient all year; even when I lost some confidence in them tonight.”

BG proved their resiliency by going on an 11-0 run to get a four point lead with just 28 seconds remaining. But Northern guard Stephanie Raymond made things interesting on Northern’s next trip down the floor by banking in a three with 19 seconds on the clock. Her big play was evident all game as she kept the Huskies in it with 23 points and seven assists.

But Raymond couldn’t do it all.

After Carin Horne missed the front end of a one and one, Raymond returned the favor with just 11 seconds left. Mann corralled the rebound and was fouled.

She showed Horne and Raymond how it was done by sinking both free throws to give the Falcons the lead they would need to take home the win.

For the Falcons, the game continued the trend they’ve seen lately of teams giving their best effort against them.

“What a game to gut out because Northern played as well as I think they’ve played all year,” Miller said.

But BG didn’t play too bad either.

The Falcons hit eight threes on the night and got 11 points from Casey McDowell and 10 points from Kate Achter.

Forward Liz Honegger paced the Falcons with 20 points and 12 boards. Yesterday was Honegger’s birthday and she said winning the MAC would be a perfect present.

She and the Falcons got that present and celebrated it together.

“I can’t be more proud of this team,” Miller said. “I’m soaked with Gatorade from head to toe, my suit is ruined but I don’t care; that is a MAC championship.”

The Falcons will get a much needed rest with a first round bye before next week’s MAC tournament at the Gund Arena in Cleveland.