Inside jam-packed Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio Saturday afternoon, the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) squared off for the second time this season. In the match up the Ball State Cardinals (23-4, 12-2 MAC) struggled against the reigning MAC champions Toledo Rockets (21-4, 13-1 MAC), falling by a final score of 70-48.
Here are three takeaways from the Cardinals’ second conference loss.
Unable to finish the first
Almost every Toledo fan stood up in Savage Arena just before the referee raised the ball for the opening tip-off, keeping up a tradition of not sitting down until the Rockets scored their first points.
The Toledo supporters would have to wait for almost half the first quarter to go by before they could settle into their seats. It was a defensive slugfest in the opening period.
Ball State scored the first points of the game for either team with 7:05 left in the first quarter with a driving layup on the left side from junior Madelyn Bischoff. Junior Alex Richard extended the lead to 4-0 with a mid-range jumper.
By the time Toledo’s first field goal, coming with 5:24 left in the quarter, the Rockets had already committed three turnovers and were 0-for-6 from the field.
Fifth-year senior Quinesha Lockett’s pullup jumper started a 10-2 run for Toledo to end the quarter. The Cardinals shot 23 percent in the period. Toledo made two 3-pointers in the run and scored eight of their 10 points in the final 2:30 of the opening quarter.
If Ball State was more effective on the offensive end in the first 10 minutes, they could’ve held a lead. Instead, a quarter that they dominated on the defensive end for the better part of seven minutes, fell by the waste-side to the late Toledo spurt.
Rockets wreak havoc in the paint
In the Jan. 21 matchup between the Cardinals and the Rockets, the points in the paint numbers were dead even at 30 for each team.
Saturday was a completely different story as Toledo had their way in the paint. Rocket seniors Sammi Mikonowicz, Hannah Noveroske and Nan Garcia were especially efficient around the basket.
Mikonowicz went 10-for-14 (71 percent) from the field for 24 points. Noveroske and Garcia had six paint points each. Junior Jessica Cook had eight points, including an offensive rebound putback to end the third quarter and extend the Toledo lead to 17.
Toledo had over half of their points come from layups and had 44 points in the paint. The Rockets had 15 second-chance points thanks to 12 offensive rebounds, seven more offensive rebounds than the Cardinals.
Junior Nyla Hampton passes the ball against Toledo Feb. 24 at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. Mya Cataline, DN
On the Ball State side, the Cardinals had half percent of their points come from the paint, tallying 24 paint points. Ball State had just four second-chance points compared to Toledo’s 15.
Despite the Cardinals missing just three more shots than the Rockets, Toledo ran away the rebounding battle 47-to-26.
Where does Ball State go from here?
This game felt to many like the game that would decide the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season title. Toledo rose to the challenge and seemed extra motivated compared to when they came to Worthen Arena in January.
Some Rockets players were seen flexing after a blocked shot, standing over Ball State players who were on the ground. Mikonowicz went on an 8-0 run by herself in the fourth quarter, forcing a timeout and bringing the Toledo crowd to their feet.
Both teams held serve against each other at home, but Ball State’s loss to Northern Illinois is the reason they stand in second place in the MAC standings heading into the last four games of the season.
The last four games of the season for Ball State begin with Akron Wednesday night in Worthen Arena, a team Ball State went to overtime with back in January. After senior night against Eastern Michigan Mar. 2, the Cardinals finished with two road games. First is Kent State which sits in 3rd place in the MAC. Then, the season finishes with a road game against Buffalo and MAC Player of the Year candidate Chellia Watson.
Toledo finishes with Northern Illinois and Western Michigan on the road before returning home for games against Eastern Michigan and Kent State.
However things shake out for the MAC regular season title race, it’s certain that Ball State needs to fix some of the issues that plagued them today if they want to get another shot at Toledo in the MAC tournament.
Contact Caleb Zuver via email at cmzuver@bsu.edu or on X @zuves35.
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