Ball State University
Central Michigan
First Half Deficit Thwarts Women's Hoops At Central Michigan
January 13, 2010 | Women's Basketball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Ball State women's basketball team suffered its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season Tuesday night as the Cardinals dropped an 87-80 contest against Central Michigan at Rose Arena. The loss drops the Cardinals to 7-8 overall on the season and 2-1 in MAC play, while the Chippewas improve to 4-11 overall and 1-2 in league action.
"Tonight was frustrating as we worked on containing, trying to defend middle penetration and attacks to the rim the past two days but we were unable to execute that," head coach Kelly Packard said. "We knew coming in what their style of play was and we had an understanding of it but we didn't execute the way we needed to. We didn't make some of the rotations that we needed to make some stops down the stretch."
In the loss, junior forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) became the 21st player in Ball State history to reach the 1,000-point scoring mark in a career when she nailed a baseline jumper at the 12:04 mark of the first half. Maggert becomes the first junior to reach the 1,000-point mark since Julie DeMuth accomplished the feat during the 2006-07 season. Maggert finished the game with her ninth double-double of the season as she scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as she was 10-of-17 from the field.
Ball State got a large contribution off of the bench as sophomore center Amber Crago (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North) posted her first career double-double in the loss. Crago played a career-high 25 minutes and scored 10 points while grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds. Her previous career-high of five rebounds was tied by her offensive rebounds as she recorded five offensive boards and a team-high eight defensive rebounds.
The Cardinals came out of the gate quickly as they opened to an early 12-6 lead to force a Central Michigan timeout three minutes into the game. Senior guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) and senior forward Danielle Gratton (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) ignited the early start as they both score five points apiece, including early three-pointers.
Central Michigan responded to the early Cardinal pressure and ran off a 16-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 22-12 lead. Skylar Miller sparked the run as she scored nine points during the stretch on her way to 14 first half points.
Ball State regrouped and battled back as it chipped away at the deficit down the stretch and pulled even at 39-39 when Maggert nailed two free throws with 3:43 left in the half. The Chippewas caught fire once again as they closed the half on an 11-0 run to take a 50-39 lead into the locker room as Shonda Long scored five straight points.
The Cardinals connected on 41.7 percent (15-of-36) from the field in the first half, including 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from three-point land. McDonald led the charge in the early going as she scored 11 first half points, while Maggert added 10 points and Gratton tallied nine points.
Central Michigan connected on 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from the field and 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from long range. Miller led the way with 14 first half points as she was 6-of-8 from the field while Britni Houghton added 14 first half points on 6-of-10 shooting.
The Cardinals and Chippewas came out of the halftime break and battled back-and-forth for most of the half. Ball State started to chip away at the deficit as Crago scored on consecutive possessions to narrow the gap to 70-60 with just over seven minutes left in the game.
The Cardinals ran off an 8-2 run to pull within four points at 72-68 with 3:58 remaining. Maggert and Crago provided all of the offense in the run as Crago scored on the inside while Maggert followed with six straight points. The Chippewas answered right back with five straight to extend the lead back to nine, but McDonald nailed her fourth three-pointer and sophomore guard Patrice King (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's Academy) hit two free throws to pull back within four at 77-73 with 1:53 left.
Central Michigan was able to seal the victory down the stretch as Long scored on back-to-back possessions and the Cardinals could not convert on the offensive end in the closing minutes to pull any closer.
Ball State finished the game shooting 41.9 percent (31-of-74) from the field and 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from three-point land. The Cardinals only got to the free throw line 10 times in the loss compared to CMU's 23 attempts from the charity stripe. BSU also was forced into 18 turnovers in the loss as Central Michigan tallied 12 steals.
McDonald finished the night with 14 points in 37 minutes of action. She was held to just three second half points as she connected on just 4-of-14 from three-point land in the loss, despite hitting her first three three-pointers. Gratton also finished with nine points as she only played 13 minutes, including just seconds in the second half before leaving the game due to an injury. Junior guard Ty'Ronda Benning (Muncie, Ind./Southside) chipped in 10 points, seven assists and three steals in the loss for the Cardinals.
Central Michigan finished the night shooting 50 percent (32-of-64) from the field in the victory, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from long range. The Chippewas were strong from the free throw line as they connected on 78.3 percent (18-of-23) for the contest. Miller finished the game with a career-high 20 points while Houghton also notched a 20-point effort. Forward Kaihla Szunko posted a double-double in the victory as she scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Chippewas.
The Cardinals step out of MAC play Friday evening as they play host to SIU-Edwardsville at 7 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
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