Two teams were plagued by poor shooting Saturday, but since one must come out on top, Ball State's 38.5 percent to Buffalo's 38.1 percent from the field ultimately made the difference.
Despite previous success on the road, UB women's basketball couldn't overcome its backwards momentum in a 70-56 loss at Ball State. The defeat marked their fifth straight, tying them for ninth in the Mid-American Conference.
"We didn't hit shots today which has been a pretty consistent story for us," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald in a press release.
The Bulls had 10 women enter the game and of the eight that attempted a shot, six of them completed three or fewer shots.
Brooke Meunier, senior Buffalo guard, led all scorers with 20 points including a day a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Fellow guard Stephanie Bennett also scored in double digits for Buffalo as she tallied 14 points. The sophomore Bull also registered three assists and two steals.
Bennett's two steals contributed to Ball State's nine turnovers, a season low. Buffalo, however, more than doubled the Cardinals' sloppy ball handling with 21 turnovers.
"We have to give a better effort and turn the ball over a lot less than we did today," Hill-MacDonald said in a press release.
Buffalo's effort matched the Cardinals' in the first half. The two teams entered the locker room with the score of 28-27 in Ball State's favor. The Bulls moved the score to within one after a buzzer-beating three-pointer from junior guard Belinda Gibb.
Halftime boded well for Ball State as their coach Tracy Roller blatantly told her players that they needed to step up.
"I told the team at halftime that we needed to pick up our scoring," Roller said in a press release. "We needed to get the ball into the post and be more patient on offense. When we did that, things just fell together.
Shots fell for the Cardinals in the second half, allowing them to lead by 21 points twice during the final 20 minutes. Ball State (13-7, 6-3 MAC) outscored the Bulls 42-29 during the second half. Forward Julie DeMuth scored 11 of her 13 points to push the Cardinals out of the Bulls' reach for good. Erica Cotton led Ball State overall with 16 points.
"I was really happy with our overall play," Roller said in a press release. "This was a key week for us in standings and I think winning both puts us in a position to contend for a championship."
Buffalo didn't win the game but it won the battle of the boards at Ball State, bringing down 44 rebounds compared to the Cardinals' 35. Freshman forward Jamie Schiebner led all players with 10 rebounds. Meunier and Bennett followed her example, racking up seven and six rebounds, respectively.
Sophomore standout Heather Turner had an off game, performing below her team-high averages. The forward contributed seven points and three rebounds in 30 minutes of play compared to her season averages of 13.6 points and 7.8 rebounds in 31.4 minutes.
The Bulls still have a chance for a MAC tournament home game come March. Currently, the Bulls are tied with Miami (Ohio) for the fourth spot in the MAC East, with 2-6 conference records.
Miami, like Buffalo, is 7-12 overall and has seven conference matches remaining, including one with the Bulls. Five of the other six games are against the same team.
The Bulls are set to face Central Michigan on Wednesday for their next contest. The Chippewas come to Alumni Arena with a 12-8 overall record and 3-6 conference record. Ann Skufca, a 6-foot-2-inch junior forward, leads Central Michigan in scoring with an 11.9-point average. CMU also has two others averaging double-digit scoring in Chasidy Myers and Casey Manning.
Wednesday's game will begin at 7 p.m.
