LAS VEGAS, Nevada ? The Ball State women's basketball team battled back from an early first half deficit but couldn't complete the rally as the Cardinals fell to perennial Big South power Liberty, 68-56, in the first game of the Lady Rebel Christmas Classic at the Cox Pavilion. The loss is the first for the Cardinals in a midseason tournament since the 2003-04 season, snapping their 12-game winning streak in such tournaments.
“We showed a lot of heart battling back but we just dug ourselves too deep of a hole against a very good Liberty team,” associate head coach and acting head coach Lisa McDonald said. “It is hard to recover from a run like Liberty had but we did a lot of good things and executed well on offense after the start.”
Ball State falls to 3-8 overall on the season as it dropped its sixth straight game while Liberty improves to 10-1 on the season and extends its winning streak to eight straight games. Junior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) led the Cardinals with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal in the all-around performance.
The Cardinals and Flames came out of the gate and went back-and-forth over the first four minutes of the game as Ball State was down 10-7 at the first media timeout. Liberty broke open the game with a 19-0 run as the Flames took advantage of some hot shooting from long range in the early going. Liberty connected on six of their first seven three-point shots on its way to a 29-7 lead.
Ball State showed its mettle and battled back down the stretch in the opening frame as the Cardinals pulled within 11 with two minutes remaining courtesy of a 12-2 run. The Cardinals' defense forced Liberty into some turnovers as the Flames were short-handed due to foul trouble.
The Cardinals attacked the basket late in the first half to send four different Liberty players to the bench with two fouls each. Ball State took control of the momentum and forced a Liberty timeout as freshman Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris), junior Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North) and sophomore Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) nailed three straight three-pointers to cap the run.
Green closed the half with a steal in the back court and an uncontested lay-up as the Cardinals went into the locker room down 40-27. Ball State finished the first half shooting 30.8 percent (eight-of-26) from the field and just four-of-14 (28.6%) from three-point land. The Cardinals were uncharacteristically cold from the free throw line as they hit just 50 percent (seven-of-14) from the line. Jarrett led the Cardinals with seven first half points while Maggert paced the Cardinals on the boards with seven first half rebounds.
Liberty slowed down its shooting after the torrid start to finish shooting 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the field and six-of-nine (66.7%) from three-point land. Reserve guard Rachel Hammond led all first half scorers with 11 points, as she hit three-of-three from three-point land. Moriah Frazee added nine points before picking up two first half fouls.
The two teams came out of the locker room and traded baskets back-and-fort before the Cardinals posted a 9-2 run to pull within 10 points at 54-44. McDonald started the run with a three-pointer and freshman guard Shannon Klei (Coldspring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) added a three-pointer off of a press break to ignite the spurt.
Each time the Cardinals were poised to narrow the lead to single figures, Liberty was there to hit a couple of baskets to keep BSU in a double-digit deficit. The Cardinals last chance came in the final two minutes when Jarrett nailed a three-pointer to pull within 11 points at 60-49. Liberty connected on its free throws down the stretch to secure its 10th victory of the season.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the field and just 29.2 percent (seven-of-24) from three-point land. Ball State also struggled from the charity stripe as it finished a season-low 55 percent (11-of-20) from the charity stripe. Liberty finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the field and 40 percent (six-of-15) from three-point land. The Flames did not hit a three-pointer outside of their early first half run.
Jarrett finished the game with 10 points and six rebounds for the Cardinals. Senior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) added 11 points while Maggert finished with a career-high 10 rebounds.
Liberty was led by the Frazee triplets who scored 46 of the Flames' 68 points. Megan Frazee led all scorers with 17 points and nine rebounds while Moriah Frazee added 15 points and seven rebounds. Molly Frazee chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds to round out the Frazee family contribution.
The Cardinals will conclude their trip to Las Vegas on Friday evening as they battle the loser of Austin Peay/UNLV in the consolation game of the Lady Rebel Christmas Classic. The game time will be 8 p.m. (ET) if against Austin Peay or 10:30 p.m. (ET) if against UNLV.
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