MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State women's basketball team saw its 10-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals dropped a 77-66 loss to Mid-American Conference East Division foe Ohio at Worthen Arena. The loss is the first for the Cardinals in MAC play as they drop to 7-1 in conference, but remain atop the West Division standings.
“Today we didn't come out and play Ball State basketball,” head coach Tracy Roller said. “We have to give Ohio credit because they had a great game plan but in the end, we didn't play team basketball like we have done all season long.”
The Cardinals (16-3, 7-1 MAC) struggled from the field in the loss as they connected on just 23-of-62 (37.1%). BSU was also off from the charity stripe as it hit just 60 percent (15-of-25) from the line in the loss. Ohio countered with solid shooting on the afternoon as it connected on 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the field and 85.2 percent (23-of-27) from the charity stripe.
Junior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) paced the Cardinals as she posted her seventh double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. She finished five-of-13 from the field and nine-of-13 from the charity stripe in the loss.
The Cardinals and Bobcats went back and forth in the opening frame as the lead changed hands 18 different times in the half. The Cardinals took a 24-20 lead with four minutes left in the half as senior guard Tina Bolte (Columbus, Ind./North H.S.) nailed a three-pointer.
Ohio (11-9, 4-4 MAC) responded with six straight points in a span of a minute to retake the lead. The teams battled to the final seconds of the first half as the Bobcats hit a three-pointer with six seconds remaining in the half to take a 36-33 lead into the break.
Ball State connected on 14-of-31 (45.2%) from the field in the opening frame but was just three-of-11 (27.3%) from the free throw line. DeMuth paced the first half effort with 11 points, despite going three-of-seven from the line. Ohio shot 57.5 percent (15-of-26) from the field in the opening frame as Rachel Frederick recorded 10 first half points.
The Cardinals came out of the break with a flurry of scoring as they posted a 10-1 run to open the half and jumped out to a 43-37 lead. Junior Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills H.S.) spurred the effort as she scored eight points in the first four minutes of the half.
Ohio didn't wither under the BSU pressure as it chipped away at the Cardinal lead and took a 51-50 lead with seven minutes remaining. The Cardinals took their last lead of the afternoon as freshman Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) nailed her first three-pointer of the game to give BSU a 53-51 lead with 6:20 remaining.
The Bobcats claimed the victory with a 16-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 67-55 lead with 1:49 remaining. Ohio sealed the game from the charity stripe as it hit 21-of-24 (87.5%) from the line in the second half.
Rusche finished the night with 12 points as she was four-of-11 shooting from the field. Bolte added nine points as she hit her first three shots of the game before finishing three-of-eight from the field. Freshman Kalynne Proctor (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Regina H.S.) chipped in eight points off of the bench while senior Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.) added six points and six assists in the loss.
Ohio was paced by Frederick who posted a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Lauren Kohn chipped in 19 points and Jennifer Bushby added 17 points for the Bobcats.
The loss ends the Cardinals' winning streak at 10 straight games, which is the second longest winning streak in school history. The loss also snaps the BSU record of 11 straight victories at home at Worthen Arena and is the first loss for the Cardinals against Ohio in the last 10 meetings.
The Cardinals will be off from action for a week as they don't return to the court until next Saturday afternoon when they travel to Buffalo for a 5 p.m. tip-off.
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