Defense carries Ball State women's basketball to 84-49 victory over Evansville

DN PHOTO SAMANTHA BRAMMER
DN PHOTO SAMANTHA BRAMMER

In its second game of the season, Ball State women's basketball edged out Evansville 84-49 to advance to 2-0.

For much of the first half, Evansville was able to keep it close with Ball State. The lead hovered in the single digits for much of the first two quarters.

It wasn’t until senior guard Calyn Hosea scored three fast break buckets off turnovers near the end of the second quarter that the Cardinals finally began to hit their stride against the Purple Aces.

Head coach Brady Sallee said he was pleased not only with the work on the offensive end but also with the way his team defended Evansville's best player, Sara Dickey.

"I don't usually call out certain players," Sallee said, "But the job that Calyn Hosea and Frannie Frazier did on Sara Dickey, they did a tremendous job on her and made things really tough on her tonight."

Dickey, who is on pace to go down as Evansville's all-time leading scorer, was held to just 8 points in the game.

At the start of the third quarter Sallee applied the full court press and Evansville was never able to figure it out as the Cardinals ended up cruising to an 35-point win Wednesday night at Worthen Arena.

It was another well rounded game for Ball State as five players finished with double digits. Senior guard Jill Morrison led the way for the Cardinals with 19 points.

Sophomore guard Destiny Washington came off the bench to post 14 points and 11 rebounds, junior guard Frannie Frazier also ended the night with a well-rounded stat line - 8 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.

The game started slow for the Cardinals, shooting just 27.8% in the first quarter, but Ball State outscored Evansville 30-9 in the third quarter and never looked back.

Every eligible player for the Cardinals saw the floor during tonight's win and Sallee said the depth on his team will be key going forward.

"Our depth is our potential this year," Sallee said. "If we can develop that and those kids can play some roles and play some really quality minutes, you're looking at a basketball team that the sky's the limit for them."

The Cardinals, after playing their first two games at home, will hit the road for the next three. On Nov. 22 they will travel to Savannah, Georgia on for the Savannah Women's Invitational. Ball State will return to Worthen Arena on Dec. 1 against Chicago State.

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