Once is a fluke. Twice is a concern. Three times is a trend.
Ball State University women's basketball coach Kelly Packard's patience has been tested with the recent problems her team has had on defense. The Cardinals have struggled to finish on the defensive end, allowing offensive rebounds and teams to run two or three shot clock cycles before finally grabbing the board - or giving up a basket.
For the third game in less than two weeks, that's exactly what happened to Ball State (9-10, 3-3 Mid-American Conference), who lost 72-63 at Kent State University (11-7, 4-2) Saturday.
'As often as we remain on the defensive end, playing the entire length of the shot clock and giving up the offensive rebound before executing the offense, it's surprising we don't have more problems on offense,' Packard said. 'We're very fundamental-prone to making mistakes.'
The first half could easily be summed up as a game of runs. The Golden Flashes went on an 11-2 run to start the game and take control. Ball State fired back, going on a run of its own to take a 20-19 lead. Kent State responded again with a run, and Ball State finished on a 9-0 run before the half to close within one at 32-31.
'We're just not doing the most fundamental things in our game consistently,' Packard said. 'We don't defend penetration well and that's not going to be good in someone's arena.'
A wild second half saw multiple lead changes and buzzer beating shots, including an Audrey McDonald half-court heave that dropped as the shot clock expired.
Despite taking a five-point edge with just more than 12 minutes left in the game, the Cardinals' defense came unraveled. As frustration mounted, Kent State was able to pull away behind Taisja Jones' 26 points.
'We're not finishing defensive possessions with box-outs to secure boards and get out and run on offense,' Packard said. 'We feed off the tone Patrice [King] and Ty'Ronda [Benning] set, and tonight we set a passive and timid tone. We didn't respond to defensive pressure. That's something I'm looking at for our loss.'
Ball State was led by Emily Maggert with 22 points and 13 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season. McDonald posted 11 points.
Late in the game, senior Danielle Gratton lost her patience and control after a turnover with the game still in the balance. She kicked the ball and received a technical foul, which allowed Kent State to take a nine-point lead with the free throws and subsequent possession. That would ice the game for the Golden Flashes.
Ball State was out-rebounded 45-31 and was out-shot 40 percent to 37 percent from the floor. Although Ball State committed one less turnover (17) than Kent State, the Golden Flashes converted the turnovers into 27 points compared to Ball State's 15 points off turnovers.
'I'll be hammering home defensive stands on the court this week in practice,' Packard said. 'We have got to get several defensive stands in succession in practice to prepare for the rest of our games.'
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