Ball State Women's Basketball (7-14, 2-7 MAC) traveled to Michigan to take on the top team in West division of the MAC, Central Michigan (16-5, 7-2 MAC) Wednesday night. The Chippewas were too much for the Cardinals as they handed them their third-straight loss 81-63. Here are four key factors to take away from the contest.
Cardinals strong first half, not enough
Ball State was able to get off to a hot start trading buckets with Central Michigan. The 3-point shooting from the Cardinals was the key in their first half play as they started the game knocking down 5-6. This helped Ball State hold a one-point advantage over Central Michigan going into halftime, 34-33.
However, coming out of the break the Chippewas flipped the switch and were able to outscore the Cardinals, 24-15, in the third quarter shooting 62.5 percent from the field. This run propelled Central Michigan to a comfortable lead and they never looked back.
Chippewa’s dynamic duo
Central Michigan holds two of the top five scorers in the MAC with guard Presley Hudson and forward Reyna Frost. Their play has boosted the Chippewas to one of the best teams out of the MAC and they solidified their case for best duo in the conference Wednesday.
Back-to-back MAC player of the week Frost, dominated all aspects of the game as she led the Chippewas in scoring with 28 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, swatted 5 shots, and came up with 3 steals.
Frost caused problems on both sides of the court with her scoring at will and her ability to protect the paint with her shot blocking attribute.
Hudson assisted on nine of Central Michigan’s points and set-up Frost multiple times in the process of the game. She also finished the game putting up 21 points.
Brown’s comeback game
After an unusually 4-point game for Ball State’s sophomore forward Oshlynn Brown Saturday, Brown answered Wednesday with her ninth double-double of the season. She was one of the two Cardinals in double-figure points scoring 18, while sophomore guard Maliah Howard-Bass added 11. Brown also grabbed a 12 of the Cardinals 30 team rebounds.
Brown has continued to grow throughout the season improving her play and becoming a consistent scorer, which could be a good sign for the Cardinals future.
Cardinals limit turnovers
Turnovers have been the crutch the Ball State offense this season, but that wasn’t the situation Wednesday. The Cardinals seemed to be more patient on offense, rather than forcing things to come too quickly. The Ball State guards were able to run the offense comfortably, which led to open looks for its teammates.
The Cardinals only had four turnovers in the first half, which could be promising for a team that has struggled throughout the season averaging about 19 turnovers a game. Ball State finished Wednesday with just 12 total.
Contact Daric Clemens with any comments at diclemens@bsu.edu or on Twitter @DClemens.
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