WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cardinals fall to MAC leading Falcons

Late first-half run allows Bowling Green to cruise to road win

In Ball State's game against Bowling Green on Wednesday night, coach Kelly Packard had the mindset of defeating her long-time friend and old coaching partner Curt Miller.

But the Cardinals (7-13, 2-5) couldn't keep the Falcons' prolific offense at bay, as the visitors cruised to a 63-52 victory.

"I treated [this game] like any other game," Packard said. "I complimented him before hand and said I just appreciate and value the fact that for a mid-major [program], he's had such consistency and success. Our kids battled tonight. That's important right now."

Sophomore forward Katie Murphy gave the Cardinals the lead to open the game after converting a short-range field goal, but that was the only time they led in the game.

The Falcons capitalized on a multitude of turnovers by the Cardinals, which resulted in a 21-point lead for the visitors with 11:55 remaining in the game.

"There's no excuse for turning the ball over on a baseline out-of-bounds play as much as we did," Packard said. "We have to be able to cut hard to get open [and] we weren't doing that."

After putting together an 8-to-2 run, it appeared the Cardinals were closing in on the Falcons. Freshman guard Brittany Carter sank a 3-point field goal to make the score 51-36 with 10:23 remaining.

But the Falcons kept pressing offensively and the Cardinals couldn't keep up. On multiple occasions, the Cardinals couldn't get their shots to fall.

"We work hard in practice and just can't convert down to the end," Carter said. "It came [down] to all those turnovers. We battled until the end. I'll give us that. Just couldn't pull it out on the offensive end."

The loss is Ball State's fourth in a row and fifth in its last six games. The Falcons improved to a conference-best 7-0 for the fifth time in the last seven years.

Given a chance to face Bowling Green in the MAC tournament, Packard said her team has a lot to improve on.

"Should we meet Bowling Green in the tournament, we would need to do a lot of things much better," Packard said. "But I think it would show them that we could compete."

For updates on the women's basketball team, follow @PozzBSU on Twitter.


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