Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
WBB Opens MAC Play With a 54-51 Victory over EMU
January 06, 2012 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball team (6-8, 1-0 MAC) opened Mid-American Conference play with a 54-51 victory over Eastern Michigan (8-6, 0-1 MAC) Thursday night in Worthen Arena.
Sophomore forward Jazmin Hitchens led the Cardinals with 16 points in the win while teammate freshman guard Brittany Carter added 14 points on the night off of 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Junior guard Mercedes Miller chipped in a personal best 13 points and freshman forward Neschelle Williams led Ball State with a career high 11 rebounds.
Ball State held Eastern Michigan to a 29.6 shooting percentage for the game while out-rebounding the Eagles 54-to-51.
The Cardinals trailed by 11 (35-24) in the opening minutes of the second half but Carter knocked down a three pointer which sparked an 8-0 run for the Cardinals to bring Ball State within three points of the Eagles (35-32) at the 14:25 mark.
After one more tie with 12:49 to play, Ball State finally took its first lead of the game 52-51 off of a fast break layup from Carter, with just a little over a minute left in the contest. Sophomore guard Brandy Woody sealed the three point victory for Ball State after a layup with 40 seconds remaining.
The Cardinals trailed the majority of the first half. Ball State was down by as many as seven points (15-8) at the 11:05 mark but managed a 7-0 run to knot the game 15-15 with 8:01 on the clock, after baskets from freshman forward Neschelle Williams, Hitchens and junior guard Mercedes Miller.
After one more tie 20-20 at the 4:03 mark, the Eagles scored seven straight points to end the half up 29-22 over the Cardinals.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues league action as it travels to Western Michigan Sunday for a 2 p.m. tipoff in Read Fieldhouse.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
