WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cardinals show signs of improvement heading into MAC play

Women's basketball
Winter Break record: 4-2
Winter Break conference record: 2-0
Wins: vs. Illinois State (86-80), at Duquesne (71-62), vs. Western Michigan (70-55), at Northern Illinois (64-62)
Losses: at Evansville (73-67), at Butler (82-67)

Dec. 13: Ball State 86, Illinois State 80
The first game of the winter break pitted Ball State against Illinois State. The Cardinals were led by Ty'Ronda Benning who tallied a career-high 22 points in the victory at Worthen Arena. Forward Emily Maggert added 21 points as Ball State shot 59 percent from the floor in the win.

Dec. 19: Ball State 71, Duquesne 62
Maggert led the Cardinals offensively in the road game in Pittsburgh. The junior posted a career-high 25 points and pulled down 15 boards to record her sixth double-double of the season. Senior guard Audrey McDonald chipped in 11 points while Benning tallied 10 in the victory. Duquesne made a run late, pulling within two at 55-53 with six minutes left, but Ball State responded to pull away behind a 50-percent shooting clip.

Dec. 22: Evansville 73, Ball State 67
Maggert registered her seventh double-double of the season in a losing effort. Despite her 20 points and 14 rebounds and Ball State's 50-38 advantage on the boards, the Cardinals committed 21 turnovers to the Purple Aces' 9 as Evansville outscored Ball State 20-8 off turnovers and 40-20 in the paint.

Dec. 30: Butler 82, Ball State 67
Ball State traveled down the road to in-state rival Butler in search of bragging rights. Instead, the Cardinals found a cold welcome at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler shot 48 percent in the first half to build a double-digit lead and went wire-to-wire despite the eighth double-double of the season by Maggert. Maggert tallied a new career-high 26 points and pulled down 12 boards, but it wasn't enough. The 22 Ball State turnovers proved to be costly in the end.

Jan. 6: Ball State 70, Western Michigan 55
The Cardinals clinched their fourth-straight conference opener win behind a near double-double effort from Maggert. This time Maggert notched 14 points and nine rebounds. In the victory, Maggert also moved to 15th all-time in program history with 507 career rebounds. The Cardinals went on a 20-6 run to cap the first half and distance themselves from the Broncos.

Jan. 9: Ball State 64, Northern Illinois 62
The final game of the Winter Break could only be described as dramatic as senior forward Danielle Gratton scored the final five points of the game, including a 3-pointer with only 0.4 seconds left to secure the win. Gratton finished with 11 points while Maggert added with 20 points in the nail-biting victory. Benning set up Gratton's final bucket with a steal and dish to finish out the game.


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