KENT, Ohio -- After playing one of the worst halves of basketball in school history, Ball State came back and showed heart in the second half, but ended up falling to the Kent State Golden Flashes 99-64.
The Cardinals faced a 52-14 halftime deficit.
"That was probably the hardest first half I've ever had to sit through in my entire life," coach Tracy Roller said. "We met at halftime and just talked about heart, playing hard, effort and things that we can control."
Each team had two misses before senior Jessica Reiter scored the first points of the game, but Kent's Heather Harris answered with a quick 3-pointer, taking the Cards' only lead of the game away. While both teams struggled from the floor in the opening minutes, Ball State struggled more, converting only their first 2-of-15 shots.
A major reason for the struggles was the defensive systems each coach had on the floor. Ball State, the traditional man-to-man team, was playing zone, and Kent State strayed from its zone to play man.
"At the beginning it was like a boxing match," Roller said. "Nobody could score until everybody got used to the change in the defensive system. Then (Kent) just made a big run in the last ten minutes."
The telling tale in the first half was not only that Ball State shot just 19 percent from the floor but also that the team was out-rebounded 35-10.
"When we don't hit shots, we just don't play hard, and that's what happened," Roller said. "Rebounding is all about effort, and I tried subbing, I tried yelling, I tried everything, and it just wasn't there in the first half."
The Cardinals opened the second half with better shooting but weren't able to chip any of the Flashes' lead away. Kent would hold a lead of 47, their largest of the game, five times before the Cards' were able to begin chipping away at it.
With 10:05 remaining and the Flashes up 79-32, Ball State was able to go on an 8-0 run. The Cards worked the deficit down to 29 with 2:22 left but ended the game 35 points behind, outscoring the Flashes 50-47 in the second half.
"I don't know what I would have done if I was a player being down 52-14, but I was extremely proud of the way our kids came out (in the second half) and executed," Roller said.
Junior Kate Endress and senior Johna Goff were the only Cardinals in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Other Cardinals were able to mount good performances in the second half, including senior Erica Sutton, who tied her career-high in points with six. Freshman Kelsey Corbin notched a career-high in three steals.
"Once you're down that much, you just kind of have to regroup, and I'm pretty proud of this team for staying in it," Endress said. "I think a lot of teams would have just thrown in the towel, but we tried to hang tight and I think we competed in the second half to some extent."
The Flashes put four players in double figures, with sophomore La'Kia Stewart scoring a game-high 18 points. Sophomore Lindsay Shearer and junior Andrea Csaszar had 12 and 11 rebounds respectively, helping Kent to out-rebound the Cards' 53-29.
The Cardinals fell to 12-11 overall and 7-5 in the Mid-American Conference, and will have this week off to prepare for Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
"The way the West (Division) is so close right now, every game means something," Roller said. "This one we've got to put behind us, and we've got to move forward."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
