Cardinals Fall in Final Minute to Golden Flashes

Sunday, January 9

Muncie, Ind.

1:00 pm

Ball State University

8-5,1-2MAC

Kent State University

9-4,1-3MAC

Kent St.

Ball St.

Photo by: Chad Smith

January 09, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Ball State drops first home league game of the season

MUNCIE, Ind. – Despite a strong second half performance, the Ball State women's basketball team suffered a 54-51 defeat to Kent State Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals (8-5, 1-2 MAC) outscored the Golden Flashes (9-4, 1-3) 31-27 in the second half, but a layup with 17 seconds left and two late free throws propelled Kent State to the victory inside Worthen Arena.

"That was another tough, hard-fought game in the MAC," Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said. "I'm proud of my team for their fight back in the second half. Just like every game, you learn from it and get better. I like the fight and I like the toughness that we showed defensively. Kent State is a good offensive team, and they have been all year. It is just a tough one to lose on your home floor."

Despite trailing 27-20 after the opening 20 minutes, the Cardinals came out of the locker room on fire, hitting three straight 3-pointers from Ali Becki, Anna Clephane and Marie Kiefer to highlight a 9-2 run and knot the score up at 29-apiece.

Ball State ended the quarter by matching its total output in the first half to take a 40-39 lead with 10 minutes to go.

"There's a lot of pride in our locker room," Sallee added. "There was a bad taste in our mouth at halftime because of the way the game had gone. I think we had given them 20 points in the paint in the one half. But this group has some resolve to it. We came out, banged some threes and got back into it. From then on, it was just one of those games. They stretched it out a little bit, but we fought back again. I like the fight that we're playing with right now. Every night is going to be a different type of matchup and a different type of game."

The Golden Flashes came back and outscored the Cardinals 15-11 to take a 3-point lead behind a driving layup with 17 seconds left and a pair of free throws with just three seconds remaining. A last-second three by Ball State was off the mark.

Becki and Clephane led the Cardinals with 10 points each and combined for six assists and five rebounds. Ball State's bench outscored Kent State 18-2 in the game with five players making at least one shot, highlighted by five points from both Estel Puiggros and Annie Rauch.

In total, 10 players scored for the Cardinals and six had at least three rebounds with Rauch's four as the team high.

The Cardinals held the Golden Flashes to their second-lowest scoring output of the season and induced 18 turnovers defensively.

Kent State won the battle in the paint, 30-14, and outrebounded Ball State, 43-32. Bridget Dunn led the way with 15 points and five rebounds, while Nila Blackford added a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

The Cardinals return to the hardwood Jan. 12 at Eastern Michigan. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. ET in Ypsilanti, Mich.