Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
6-2,0-0MAC
University of Connecticut
5-3,0-0Big East
Women’s Basketball Suffers First Road Loss of the Season at #17 UConn
December 06, 2023 | Women's Basketball
STORRS, Conn. - The Ball State women's basketball team (6-2) suffered its first road loss of the season after falling to #17 UConn (5-3) by a score of 90-63 Wednesday night at Harry A. Gampel Pavillion.
In the opening minutes of tonight's contest both teams swapped baskets. The Cardinals took an early 6-4 lead over the nationally ranked Huskies at the 8:36 mark after Madelyn Bischoff drained a 3-pointer.
Although UConn tried pulling away on a few occasions in the first frame, Ball State never let up on its defense and stayed within reach up until the 1:15 mark when the Huskies had then built an 18-point advantage. Hana Mühl closed the first stanza for the Cardinals scoring back-to-back baskets but the Huskies would ultimately lead after one quarter of play, 37-21.
Ball State struggled to get anything going offensively in the second quarter and was held to only nine points. UConn continued to outscore Ball State the remainder of the first half and would take a 52-30 advantage over the Cardinals at intermission.
After the break, the Cardinals were not going away quietly, as Ball State put together a 7-0 run after two 3-point baskets from Ally Becki and Nyla Hampton to make it a 14-point (57-43) ball game with just under five minutes left on the clock in the third.
UConn then continued to increase their defensive intensity and was also successful on offense making it impossible for the Cardinals to come any closer the remainder of the third period.
The final 10 minutes mimicked the first three quarters allowing UConn to walk away with tonight's victory. Regardless, the Cardinals played a tightly contested ball game against the national powerhouse Huskies after being on the road the last five days.
For the game, Bischoff led the Cardinals in scoring with 12 points while Mühl, who played against her sister Nika tonight, went 6-of-4 from the field for nine points. Hampton also chipped in nine points against the Huskies.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues its five-game road stretch on Sunday when it plays at Western Kentucky in E.A. Diddle Arena. The game is slated to begin at 3 pm ET.
