Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Temple
Women's Basketball Suffers 78-73 Loss to Temple
December 23, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Despite holding a 32-30 advantage at the half, the Ball State women's basketball team suffered a 78-73 loss to Temple Monday night at Worthen Arena.
"I felt like we were fatigued at times tonight," said head coach Kelly Packard. We definitely competed and wanted to win this game. We have come so far in our confidence and Temple is a very quick and big team. We played very well against a very good team."
The Owls owned a 57-56 advantage with 8:36 to play in the game and then managed nine unanswered points to move ahead 66-56 with 5:03 to play. The Cardinals would pull within six at the 2:03 mark when Audrey McDonald hit a three pointer. The three gave McDonald 12 points for the game.
Kiley Jarrett got Ball State within seven points when her pair of made free throws closed the gap to 73-66 with less than one minute to play. After Temple missed the second of a two shot foul, Porchia Green scored on a fastbreak layup to close the gap to 74-68 with :21.6 left to play. Green's bucket gave her 12 points for the game, and along with her 10 rebounds, gave her the first double-double of the 2008 season.
The Owls made a pair of free throws to increase the lead to eight at 75-68 with 19 seconds to play in the contest before Emily Maggert made an easy transition basket to pull Ball State within six one more time with :10.8 left in the game. The last basket gave Maggert a season high 21 points, and left her just three points shy of tying her career high of 24.
Temple's final possession was a pair of free throws, both of which went in, to give the Owls a 78-70 lead with 10 seconds to play. A Patrice King three pointer at the buzzer gave her nine points for the contest and pulled Ball State within five for the final 78-73 margin.
After racing out to a 9-2 lead, the Ball State women's basketball team fell behind 28-24 with 2:57 to play in the first half before rallying back to a 30-30 tie with 1:12 remaining in the first half on a bucket by Green. King nailed a three pointer with four seconds to play in the first stanza to give the Cardinals a 32-30 halftime advantage.
The loss dropped Ball State to 6-4 overall, while Temple improved to 6-4 overall. The Cardinals will play at the Crimson Tide Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30. Ball State will face Richmond Dec. 29 at 1 p.m. and play either the winner or loser of the Alabama vs. Belmont game on the 30th.
