Ball State University Athletics
Women’s Basketball Suffers Heartbreaking OT Loss at BGSU
March 01, 2023 | Women's Basketball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - In front a national stage, the Ball State women's basketball team suffered an 81-76 overtime loss in a midweek Mid-American Conference game at Bowling Green on ESPNU.
Both teams put on a show, but it was the Falcons (25-4, 14-3 MAC) that would prevail on their home court over the Cardinals (23-7, 13-4 MAC).
Bowling Green would make some crucial free throws down the stretch in the extra period to go up 79-75 with under a minute remaining. Ball State kept within reach but unfortunately suffered from the charity stripe which in the end led to the Falcons victory.
The Falcons used their home court advantage the entire game and by the five minute mark of the first period had jumped out to a 15-5 scoring spree. The Cardinals struggled to get anything going offensively until about the 2:31 mark when redshirt Anna Clephane snapped the drought with a pull up jumper. Unfortunately, Bowling Green couldn't be stopped in the opening 10 minutes of play and would lead by 14 (22-8).
Ball State continued to struggle at the start of the second quarter not having an answer for Bowling Green on offense or defense and would trail 26-13 at the 7:10 mark. But Ball State wasn't going to go away quietly, back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomores Ally Becki and Marie Kiefer along with a jumper from graduate senior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir that was followed by a steal from junior Estel Puiggros made it a six-point contest (29-23) with 3:54 left in the first half.
Ball State went on to outscore Bowling Green, 19-10, in the second frame and would only trail by five (32-27) at intermission. The Cardinals also redeemed themselves in the second period shooting 72.7 percent from the field and 75 percent from behind the arc.
As expected, the second half would be a back-and-forth battle between the two toughest teams in the league. Kiefer ended the third frame with two free throws to give BSU its first lead of the ball game, 46-44.
In the final stanza, a clutch old fashioned 3-point play by redshirt Anna Clephane and a defensive play by the Cardinals on the ensuing possession with 13 seconds left gave BSU the one-point edge over BGSU, 68-67. As time was winding down though, the Cardinals would commit a foul with :01 left sending Nyla Hampton to the line. Hampton would make one of two free throws to send the game into overtime.
For the game, Kiefer led the team with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Becki finished the contest with 19. Clephane wrapped up the double digit scoring with 15.
The Ball State women's basketball team will wrap up its regular season Saturday on the road at rival Miami at 1 pm ET in Millett Hall.
