MUNCIE, Ind. ? For the first time since 2004, the Ball State women's basketball team knocked off perennial Mid-American Conference power Bowling Green as the Cardinals downed the Falcons 68-47 at Worthen Arena Saturday afternoon in a battle of MAC divisional leaders.
The victory is just the 13th all-time for Ball State against Bowling Green in program history. The Cardinals improve to 9-10 overall on the season and 5-1 in MAC play to remain atop the MAC-West Division. Bowling Green falls to 15-5 overall and 4-2 in MAC action with the loss.
“I am so proud of our effort and intensity this afternoon against a great team like Bowling Green,” acting head coach Lisa McDonald said. “We played 40 minutes of team basketball today and we never took the pressure off from the start. This team is showing a lot of heart in how they have responded over the past couple of weeks.”
Ball State dominated play in most facets of the game against the Falcons as five different players scored in double figures for BSU. Junior point guard Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North) continued her strong play as she scored a team-high 14 points, dished out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds. Jarrett finished the game five-of-11 from the field, including three-of-five from three-point land. Sophomore guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) added 13 points on five-of-nine shooting from the field.
The Cardinals dominated play in the paint as they out-scored Bowling Green 38-14 in that category. Ball State also out-rebounded Bowling Green by a 47-33 margin and only allowed eight offensive rebounds for the Falcons.
Senior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. DeMuth finished five-of-10 shooting from the field, including a key three-pointer in the second half.
Classmate Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) added 10 points and six rebounds. She was five-of-nine shooting from the field and added two blocked shots in the defensive effort. Freshman forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds in the victory.
“We received contributions and big plays up and down our lineup this afternoon,” McDonald said. “The play of Kiley today was great. Her energy and competitiveness takes our team to another level.”
Ball State turned up the defensive pressure against the Falcons as it held BGSU to a season-low 28.6 percent shooting (16-of-56) from the field in the victory. The 47 points against is the lowest the Cardinals have allowed this season. It is also the lowest point output for Bowling Green since it scored 46 points against sixth ranked Duke last season and the lowest output in a MAC contest since the 2002-03 season (30 at Central Michigan).
The Cardinals came out of the gate quickly against Bowling Green as they scored the first four points of the game and held the lead throughout the contest. Rusche started the scoring on the night with a drive down the lane. Ball State extended its lead to 13-6 after just six minutes to force Bowling Green into a timeout. DeMuth and McDonald connected on back-to-back jumpers to force the stoppage.
The Cardinals broke the game open and took a double digit lead with a 12-2 run in a five-minute stretch to take a 29-13 lead. Jarrett started the run with an old-fashioned three-point play and McDonald nailed a three-pointer from the wing to force another BGSU timeout. Back-to-back baskets from Maggert and freshman guard Shannon Klei (Coldspring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) capped the spurt.
After a couple baskets from Bowling Green, the Cardinals scored eight straight points to take a 37-16 lead with just under a minute remaining in the half. DeMuth scored four points in the quick spurt as the Cardinals dominated play in the paint. The Falcons closed the half with six straight points from guard Kate Achter to go into the locker room trailing by 15 points at 37-22.
The Cardinals were strong in the first half shooting as they finished 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the field despite just 20 percent (two-of-10) from three-point land. Ball State's defense held Bowling Green, the top shooting team in the MAC, to just 23.1 percent (six-of-26) from the field in the first half and 14.3 percent (one-of-seven) from long range.
Bowling Green came out of the break and tried to change the momentum with a full court press. The Falcons pulled within 13 points at 44-31 just six minutes into the half, but McDonald nailed a big three-pointer to stop the BGSU spurt. Bowling Green made one more push at the deficit as it pulled with 14 points at 50-36 with nine minutes remaining.
The Cardinals needed a big basket to regain the momentum and prevent a Falcon run. Maggert stepped forward and answered the called as she recorded an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Cardinals life. Ball State responded to the play and began a 15-4 run over the next three minutes to take its largest lead of the afternoon at 62-38.
Maggert scored six points in the run to ignite the second half attack. DeMuth nailed a three-pointer and Jarrett responded with a long-range shot to seal the Cardinals' victory. Junior forward Dana Moorman (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont) turned in a solid performance down the stretch as she grabbed four rebounds, three on the offensive end, scored two points and registered a block.
Ball State finished the game shooting 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the field. The Cardinals hit 31.6 percent (six-of-19) from long range with four of their three-pointers coming in an eight-minute stretch in the second half. Bowling was held to just 28.6 percent (16-of-56) shooting from the field and just 15.8 percent (three-of-19) from three-point land.
Junior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) was held to just four points as she was in foul trouble in the first half. Green finished with a team-high eight rebounds through and also dished out four assists.
Bowling Green was led by Achter as she scored 18 points on nine-of-15 shooting from the field. Freshman Lauren Prochaska added 11 points despite shooting two-of-14 from the field.
The 21-point victory for the Cardinals is the largest defeat of Bowling Green since the 2004-05 season when BGSU dropped a 73-43 game at New Mexico. It is the largest MAC defeat of the Falcons sine the 2002-03 season when Kent State defeated BGSU 92-61.
Ball State will be back in action on Wednesday night as it travels to Athens, Ohio to take on the Ohio Bobcats in MAC inter-divisional play. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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