Ball State University
2-2
Florida
4-1
WBB Loses Tough Battle To Florida In Colorado
November 28, 2015 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER, Colo. - Strong shooting from the floor was not enough to push Ball State women's basketball past Florida in the first game of the Omni Hotels Classic Friday night in the Coors Events Center, as it fell 85-79 Friday night.
Senior Nathalie Fontaine led the Cardinals in scoring with 16 points and seven rebounds, she also remained perfect from the free throw line for the year now making 20-of-20 in her last four games. Junior Jill Morrison had 14 points for the fourth straight contest for the Cardinals. Freshman Lucia Fernandez had her best performance so far this season with 11 points and senior Shelby Merder ended the night with 11 after going 3-for-4 from the three-point line. Junior Renee Bennett rounded out the double digit scoring with 10.
Florida (4-1) took the early lead over Ball State (2-2) after scoring the first five points of the ball game. The Cardinals would continue to trail by five (11-6) at the 4:43 mark but Merder quickly answered with her first three point basket of the night to cut the Gators lead to two (14-12). After that, Ball State went on an 8-2 run to end the quarter up 20-16 after baskets from Merder, Morrison and Fernandez.
The Cardinals carried their momentum into the second quarter, controlling the contest up until the 1:14 mark. Ball State led by as many as six (27-21) at the 8:03 mark which was capped off by a layup from Fontaine. The Gators then went on an 8-4 run over span of two minutes to tie the contest 31-31 with 5:10 left in the half. Both teams continued to trade baskets, Florida led by two (43-41) with 39 seconds remaining but sophomore Frannie Frazier hit a jumper to tie the game 43-43 at the half.
The tables were turned in the third quarter as Florida came out of the gates strong building a seven-point advantage (52-45) over Ball State with just three minutes shaved off the clock. Merder knocked down a three which sparked a 7-0 run for the Cardinals to tie the game 54-54 at the 5:15 mark. The Gators led the majority of the quarter until Morrison hit one from downtown to knot the game back up 62-62 with 25 seconds left on the clock. Florida then answered with a three point basket to end the quarter up 65-62 over Ball State.
The game came down to the fourth quarter, which mimicked the first three quarters. The quarter consisted of three ties and two lead changes. At the 3:22 mark, Bennett hit a layup off of the assist from freshman Carmen Grande giving Ball State its largest lead of the contest (77-70). Florida then went on a 7-0 run that would tie the game for the last time. Despite the Cardinals efforts the Gators were able to hit their free throws down the stretch for the victory.
The Cardinals had their best shooting performance of the season after shooting 46.9 percent from the field while holding the Gators to a 39.7 percent. Both teams pulled down 38 rebounds apiece. Ball State outscored Florida's bench (32-to-29) and had 42 points in the paint while the Gators only had 30.
The Ball State women's basketball team will play in the consolation game of the Omni Hotels Classic, Saturday at 7 p.m. (EST) against the winner of the Colorado versus UMass game in the Coors Events Center.
