BUFFALO, NY ? The Ball State University women's basketball team (15-8, 7-2 MAC) defeated Buffalo (5-18, 1-8 MAC) 83-62 Sunday afternoon at Alumni Arena.
The deciding factor could have been that the Cardinals shot 56.1 percent from the field while Buffalo was held to 37.5 percent. Ball State's bench scored 28 points to Buffalo's 18.
Three Cardinals managed double digit scoring for Ball State with senior guard Porchia Green leading the way with 15 points. Junior Danielle Gratton added 13 points while sophomore forward Emily Maggert had 12.
Junior guard Audrey McDonald became second all-time in the Ball State record books for career three-pointers made with 206.
Gratton opened the second half with a basket to increase BSU's halftime lead to 39-32. Ball State would then build a 10-point cushion (52-42) after layups from Grossnickle and Barber at the 11:49 mark.
Green hit a layup to make the score 56-44 then Maggert hit a three-pointer to put BSU up by 15 (59-44) with 9:24 left to play.
Buffalo went on a 3-0 run to cut Ball State's lead to 59-49 but King would hit a jumper to stop the Bulls run. The closest the Bulls got was (63-57) with just under five minutes to play.
Ball State continued to score and play strong defense allowing McDonald to hit back-to-back three-pointers to become second all-time in the Ball State record books for career three-pointers made with 206. She passed former Cardinal Kate Endress who played for Ball State from 2002-05. With the three-pointers it gave the Cardinals a 75-59 cushion with 2:18 left in the game.
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the opening minutes of the first half after baskets from junior forward Danielle Gratton and sophomore forward Emily Maggert. Ball State's defense held Buffalo scoreless up until the 16:07 mark.
Freshman forward Jade Barber came in and scored back-to-back baskets to give the Cardinals an 8-4 edge over the Bulls with 14:45 left in the first half. Buffalo made it an 8-6 ball game before Ball State went on a 5-0 run sparked by a three-pointer from senior guard Kiley Jarrett and a layup from senior guard Porchia Green making it a 13-6.
Buffalo went on 5-0 run to cut Ball State's lead to 13-11 with 11:06 left in the half.
Green hit back-to-back free throws to give Ball State a 37-29 edge with 1:15 on the clock. The Cardinals ended the half with a 37-32 lead over Buffalo.
The Ball State University women's basketball team hosts Kent State Wednesday night in Worthen Arena with a 7 p.m. tipoff.
