Ball State University Athletics
Women's Season Ends at Cleveland
March 08, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Ball State's season was halted with a 69-52 loss Wednesday in quarterfinal action of theKraft/Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cardinals struggled to contain the MAC's 2006 Player of the Year Lindsay Shearer, who helped her team to the semifinals with a game-high 26 points. BSU, whose season ends at 17-12, was led by Tina Bolte's 19 points, marking her 15th double-digit scoring effort of the campaign.
Depending on what your tastes are for the game of basketball, the first 15 minutes was either a great display of defensive dominance or offensive futility. The teams opened with a combined 0-for-12 before Kent State found the net on its eighth field goal attempt with 3:35 elapsed. Midway through the period, there were a total of four field goals. At the third media timeout with under eight minutes left, that number had "jumped" to 10 and by the fourth official break -- 15 on 52 attempts.
The teams struggled from the field, combining for just 2-of-15 over the first 5:30 with Kent State nabbing both makes. The Flashes struck first with two free throws by Malika Willoughby 1:52 into the contest. La'Kia Stewart hit the first field goal of the game on her team's eighth attempt to put the Flashes up 4-0 at the 16:25 mark. Shearer found net for the first time on her sixth attempt to put KSU up 6-0 at the 15:33 mark.
It wasn't until the 14:23 mark that Ball State got its first point -- the second of two free throw tries by Raechelle Hampton. Bolte converted the Cardinals' first field goal -- a three-pointer from the top of the key -- on the team's 15th attempt at the 13:16 mark. Kent's Sarah Burgess matched the three and gave the Flashes a 9-4 advantage going into the second media timeout with 11:53 remaining.
Kent State built a nine-point lead of 13-4, thanks to a 7-0 run which was halted with Erica Cotton's layup at the 10:40 mark, ending a nearly three-minute drought for the Cardinals. KSU responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Burgess and Shearer to go on top 19-6 with 8:49 left in the period. After trading baskets, the Flashes ran off eight unanswered points, including two-straight treys by Shearer to go up 17 points -- 29-12 with 4:19 on the clock. Porchia Green's short jumper in the paint snapped a nearly three-minute dry spell for BSU. Bolte heated up to score the Cardinals' final eight points in the half, including a long 3-pointer as time expired. The Flashes, however, matched every point and took a 37-22 lead into the break.
Burgess, who missed the first matchup of the season between the teams, and Shearer had 14 points apiece over the first 20 minutes for Kent State. The two players were a combined 6-of-8 from 3-point range. The Flashes shot 38.5 (10-of-26) percent from the field. Bolte led Ball State with 11 points, nine of which came on 3-pointers. The Cardinals made good on 24.2 (8-of-33) percent of their field goals -- 3-of-7 treys. Kent State took full advantage from the line, converting 11-of-12. The Cardinals were 3-of-4 from the stripe.
Ball State opened the second half on fire, scoring 10 of the first 14 points to cut its deficit to 42-32 by the first media timeout. In direct contrast to the first half, BSU converted four of its first shots, while the Flashes were held to 2-for-7. The Cardinals kept the heat on getting within eight points on a field goal by Becca Bajorek at the 14:24 mark and went into the second media timeout having converted 8-of-11 from the field. The Flashes, meanwhile, were just 4-of-12 at the same point, yet owned a 52-40 lead.
BSU held Shearer in check for the first 10-plus minutes of the second period. Shearer got her first field goal of the half at the 9:45 mark, but did convert four of six free throws during the stretch. The Cardinals cooled down, going more than eight minutes without a field goal. During the same span, the Flashes scored 11 points compared to four for BSU to put Kent State back up 58-43. Kelsey Corbin ended the dry spell with her driving layup at the 6:11 mark. A free throw by Corbin plus two more by DeMuth got the Cardinals back within 10 points at 58-48 with 5:51 remaining. From there, the game was never in jeopardy as Kent State led by as many as 17 and maintained a double-digit lead until the game's final score of 69-52.
"We are very disappointed," BSU head coach Tracy Roller said. "We came here with high expectations of extending our season. Kent State is a great team with great senior leadership and great coaching. You have to be near perfect to beat them and we weren't. We put ourselves in a hole in the first half and it was too deep to come back."
Kent State, who warmed up for a .458 percent showing from the field in the second half put three players in double figures. Besides the 26-point effort of Shearer, Burgess added 16 and Malika Willoughby 11. Shearer, who was 8-of-16 from the field -- 2-for-3 from beyond the arc -- and 8-of-10 from the line, pulled down a team-high eight boards.
"Lindsay Shearer is a great player," Roller said. "She is certainly on a mission to take her team back to the NCAA's and we just couldn't contain her. "I am really proud of the way our kids came back and fought right down until the buzzer. They have huge hearts and I can't say enough about them."
Besides the 19 points from Bolte, Julie DeMuth also reached double figures with 11 points. Raechelle Hampton concluded her BSU career with seven points and a team-high seven rebounds. BSU, which shot .444 in the second half, converted 31.4 (16-of-51) for the game. The Cardinals were 14-for-17 from the line.
Kent State, 20-8, meets Eastern Michigan in semifinal action Friday.
