MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State women's basketball team dropped a 66-49 game to instate rival Butler on Saturday afternoon in the Cardinals' final non-conference game of the season. Senior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) posted her third double-double of the season in the loss as the Cardinals fall to 4-9 on the season.
“We had some really good spurts of great basketball but we weren't able to keep that high level of play consistently throughout the game,” head coach Tracy Roller said. “Rusche played really well, especially in the start of the second half and we played very strong as a team. We look forward to having some time off to refocus and prepare for the start of the Mid-American Conference season.”
Rusche scored a season-high 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss. She connected on nine-of-16 from the field to pace the Cardinals' offensive attack. Rusche has now scored 56 points over the past two seasons against Butler, as she posted a career-high 36 points last season at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The two teams came out of the gate trading baskets back-and-forth as sophomore guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) hit an early three-pointer as the teams were deadlocked at 8-8 nine minutes into the game. Butler (10-1) broke the game open with nine straight points on its way to an 18-4 run as the Bulldogs took a 26-12 lead.
Ball State narrowed the deficit to 10 points late in the first half on a pair of baskets from Rusche, but Butler nailed a three-pointer as time expired to take a 31-18 lead into the locker room. The Cardinals opened the game shooting just 25 percent (seven-of-28) from the field in the first half. Butler connected on 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the first half and hit three-of-seven from three-point land.
The Cardinals came out in the second half and started to chip away at the Butler lead. Rusche led the charge as she scored eight points in the first four minutes of the half to pull the Cardinals within single digits at 36-28. Butler responded with a 9-4 run to extend the lead back to double-figures.
Ball State made one final push as it was down 51-41 with 11 minutes remaining in the half. The Cardinals narrowed the deficit to six points as freshman forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) hit back-to-back baskets to get the crowd involved. The Cardinals had an opportunity to cut into the lead again after a pair of misses from Butler, but BSU was unable to convert on three straight possessions.
Butler closed out the game on a 15-4 run in the final seven minutes as the Bulldogs connected on their free throws. Butler finished the game shooting 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the field and 10-of-13 (76.9%) from the charity stripe. Ball State, conversely, finished 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field and just 13.3 percent (two-of-15) from three-point land.
Junior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) turned in a strong all-around effort as she finished with eight points, nine rebounds and six assists in 36 minutes of play. Maggert added six points, six rebounds and three steals as she was making her second career start in place of injured senior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville).
Butler was led by forward Susan Lester as she scored a game-high 25 points as she was eight-of-11 from the field. Lade Akande was held to just 12 points while Candyce Brown chipped in 10 points as Butler is off to its best start in program history at 10-1 on the season.
The Cardinals will be off until Jan. 9 when they open Mid-American Conference play on the road. Ball State will travel to Western Michigan for a 7 p.m. start. The game is slated to be broadcast on Comcast Local as part of the MAC television package.
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