The Ball State women's basketball team was able to execute for a full 40 minutes against the Bowling Green Falcons on Sunday, something they have had trouble doing as of late. However, it only got them a tie, and in overtime the Cardinals couldn't execute falling 84-79.
"The last thing I said before we left the locker room was, 'let's go play 40 minutes,' and that's what we did, we kind of forgot about the five minutes in overtime," head coach Tracy Roller said. "I think that was the difference in the game, the execution I thought in the overtime, just wasn't going to win us games."
The Cardinals shot only 27 percent from the floor in overtime while the Falcons converted half of their shots. Ball State got a quick three point advantage in the overtime period when junior Kate Endress got a layup and free throw eight seconds in. Bowling Green would answer by going on an 8-0 run, in which Lindsay Austin scored five to give the Falcons a 79-74 lead.
With just under a minute to go, sophomore Dana Collins gave the Cardinals hope with her layup and free throw that got the Cards' within three. After a miss by the Falcons, Collins missed a jumper, but senior Jessica Reiter rebounded the ball and her attempted put back was blocked out of bounds with 17.6 seconds left.
On the in-bound Reiter missed a 3-pointer, and the Cards' were forced to foul. Bowling Green's Tene Lewis missed both free throws giving the Cards' yet another chance. Endress put up a 3-pointer with four seconds left, but it wouldn't fall. The Cards' fouled Ali Mann who put the game away, hitting both her free throws for the 84-79 victory.
The loss came on Senior Day, in which five Ball State seniors were honored, and sends the Cards' to 12-14 overall and 7-8 in the Mid-American Conference and puts them on a five game losing streak.
"I'm pretty disappointed because everyone on this team, including the seniors, wanted to (get a win) for them," Endress said. "Everyone has seen how hard they worked, and we wanted to show them that, but this is sports; sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't."
Ball State wasn't able to get anything to go in the early minutes of the contest, missing their first four shots and allowing the Falcons a quick 11-0 lead. Reiter would finally get the Cards' first points with 15:04 remaining in the half. After Ball State fell down by 14 points, they used a 6-0 and 7-0 run to get back in the game.
After closing the half by scoring five straight they took a 40-37 advantage into the break. In the second half, between the 11:47 and 11 minute marks, the Cards' scored six unanswered points to pull ahead 59-48.
The Falcons were able to get the lead down to two, but Reiter and senior Johna Goff hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the lead back to eight. Bowling Green then scored nine straight to take a 71-70 lead, and the game came down to free throw shooting. With 19.9 seconds remaining, Endress hit only one of her two to tie the game at 71. Mann was then fouled by Goff with five seconds remaining but failed to hit either causing the game to go into overtime.
The Falcons Mann led all scorers with her 28 points which was a career high for her. They put two others in double figures and Austin was close to having a triple-double with nine points, assists and rebounds each.
Ball State did get some stand-out individual performances. Endress finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds, which bettered her career high in rebounding by five and freshman Tina Bolte set a career high in points with 12. Reiter had a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, while Goff also finished in double figures with 18 points.
"Every time I come in, I just try to make a difference and contribute in any way possible," Bolte said. "Tonight I just seemed to be hitting my shoots pretty well, and teammates were getting me the ball when I was open and they were getting me open."
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