It was an unusual scene at Worthen Arena Wednesday night.
Ball State never found a rhythm on either end of the court. The performance landed the Cardinals their first loss at home during Mid-American Conference play this season.
Coach Kelly Packard said she was embarrassed by her team's performance, and questioned their readiness to play.
Packard said the Cardinals were simply out-hustled on defense. Senior captain forward Emily Maggert said she, along with the rest of the team, made too many mistakes and failed to get the job done.
"I don't think we played defense to our capability," Maggert said. "They beat us off of a lot of penetration and they got a lot of [offensive] boards. We came into the game knowing that [those were] two areas we had to stop them in and we didn't succeed in doing that."
Maggert said the offense was struggling with the constant pressure from Ohio defenders.
"We get very flustered with the press," Maggert said. "We weren't moving a lot in our zone offenses, so we tried [running] man offenses to get people to move. It was just a mess. We just needed to play. It was not how we wanted to do things."
The Cardinals shooters weren't able to knock down anything from beyond the arc, converting just three of 17. Packard said her team was taxed.
"We were fatigued tonight," Packard said. "We were out of sync the entire night offensively. Rushed, getting late into the shot clock, taking shots that we didn't want."
The Cardinals committed 28 turnovers, four more than their season average of 24 per game.
Packard said seeing that many turnovers is shocking, especially at this point of the season.
"It's personal accountability," she said. "If it's an October scrimmage, that's one thing. You shouldn't see those numbers in February."
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
