The Ball State University women's basketball team is searching for answers as it heads into Mid-American Conference play after committing 22 turnovers in its 82-67 loss at Butler University Wednesday evening.
The loss for the Cardinals put them at 5-7 as the program now will defend a MAC title for the first time in program history. Ball State begins league play on Wednesday at home against Western Michigan University.
Ball State never led or even tied the Bulldogs (7-4) past the opening tip. Butler had a 42-29 lead going into halftime and even led by 18 points at 66-48 with 6:41 remaining in the game.
From that point, Ball State went on a 16-8 run to close the gap to 10 points with 1:25 to go, but Cardinals' turnovers and Bulldogs' free throws helped push the Butler lead back to the final tally.
In all, Ball State committed a season-high 22 turnovers and added 21 fouls in the game. Butler capitalized on the mistakes, outscoring the Cardinals 26-13 off turnovers and shooting 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the charity stripe.
Despite the loss, junior forward Emily Maggert continued her claim as a top candidate for the MAC Player of the Year award against Butler, scoring a career- and game-high 26 points and making it a double-double with a team-best 12 rebounds.
Entering conference play, Maggert – the reigning MAC West Division Player of the Week – is averaging 18.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game and has eight double-doubles. Maggert's rebounding average tops all players in the conference and her scoring average puts her at third in the MAC.
One other positive in the Butler game for the Cardinals was the play of junior guard Shannon Klei. Klei, playing her third game this season after battling back issues, played a season-high 20 minutes off the bench and scored eight points, including two 3-pointers.
Sophomore guard Patrice King added 10 points for Ball State, but shot just 4-of-15 from the field. Other than Maggert – who shot 10-of-12 (83 percent) in the game, eight other Cardinals combined to shoot just 15-for-47 (32 percent).
For Butler, guard Brittany Bowen led five Bulldogs in double-digits with 20 points. Forward Melanie Thornton controlled the paint with 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds, Terra Burns had 13 points, and Susan Lester and Chloe Hamilton added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
For continuing coverage of the women's basketball team over Winter Break, check back with bsudailynews.com.
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