Wednesday's Scoreboard
Ball State 93, Toledo 78
Bowling Green 73, Western Michigan 48
Central Michigan 83, Akron 58
Ohio 72, Miami 63
Buffalo 73, Eastern Michigan 68
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Ball State 93, Toledo 78
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- After Saturday's contest, Ball State ninth-year head coach Brady Sallee must have giving his team a chemistry lesson because tonight's 93-78 victory over Toledo was an all-around team effort.
From start to finish, the Cardinals (4-4, 2-2 MAC) dominated on both offense and defense against the Rockets (6-2, 2-2 MAC)
Sallee commented on Brown's performance after the game, saying she did a great job of understanding where she was going to hurt Toledo tonight and that was down in the paint. He gave her a lot of credit, saying she was a savvy senior that understood here's how the team needs you to play in order to win and thought that was a big part of tonight's outcome.
Brown also got plenty of help from her teammates as four other Cardinals reached double figures.
Sophomore Sydney Freeman chipped in 18 points while junior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir had 15. Redshirt sophomore Anna Clephane added 14 points and newcomer Essence Booker finished the night with 13.
The all-around offensive success also had a lot to do with the team's unselfishness which was apparent with their season-high 20 assists, with Freeman dishing out a game-high eight.
Although Ball State led the entire game, we all know in league action the game is not over until it's over, and that was the case again tonight.
Toledo continued to nip at the heels of the Cardinals and would come to within six points (70-64) at the 9:06 mark in the final frame, but Ball State turned up the tempo and never looked back with a lot of help from Brown who scored 17 of her 24 points in the second half.
The Cardinals opened the contest on a mission. Freeman scored the first basket and led Ball State to an impressive 11-2 run to go up by nine with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter. The Cardinals would go on to finish the opening period with a 30-19 edge.
Ball State continued to control the tempo in the second stanza, and while the Rockets made a nice little run to come within seven (44-33) with 3:05 left, a quick layup from Agustsdotttir put the Cardinals back on track.
Ball State took a 48-39 edge over the Rockets into intermission. At the half, seven different Cardinals had scored, with Agustsdottir leading the way with 13 and Freeman with 12.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues Mid-American Conference action Saturday when it travels to Kent State for a noon tip-off at the M.A.C Center.
Bowling Green 73, Western Michigan 48
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team burst out of the starting gates quickly in each half Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 6), as the Falcons posted a 73-48 win at Western Michigan University.
The Falcons (8-1, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) had a lightning-quick start to each half. An early onslaught produced BGSU leads of 17-2 and 21-4 in the first quarter, and after the Broncos narrowed the Falcons' lead to eight points at the half, another quick start in the third quarter put BG firmly in control once again.
Freshman Lexi Fleming, held scoreless in the first half, scored 11 points in that third period and finished with 16 for the game. Junior Kadie Hempfling tied Fleming for team honors with 16 points, and also had eight rebounds, while freshman Kenzie Lewis had 10 points and eight boards.
The Falcons forced 27 WMU turnovers, and BGSU had an advantage in points off turnovers for the ninth time in as many games this season.
Central Michigan 83, Akron 58
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It's not about how you start, but how you finish.
Central Michigan outscored Akron, 51-25, in the second half on Wednesday as the Chippewas remained unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play with an 83-58 women's basketball victory at McGuirk Arena.
CMU improved to 6-2, 4-0 MAC as it seeks its fifth-consecutive league championship. It was the fourth-straight loss for the Zips, 3-4, 0-4.
Ohio 72, Miami 63
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The Ohio (4-3, 2-2 MAC) women's basketball team earned a Battle of the Bricks win over Miami (1-7, 0-4 MAC), 72-63, on Wednesday evening inside Millett Hall.
"We didn't play fast enough in the first half which is kind of atypical," head coach Bob Boldon said. "We've been doing pretty well and the ball has been moving. I don't think 28 first-half points is anything we are thrilled with, but I am happy our defense showed up and kept us in the game long enough to have a nice third quarter. We can build on this and be a little bit better on Saturday."
Ohio was led by senior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio), who had 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Hooks was 8-of-12 from the free-throw line and pulled down five rebounds and added a season-high five steals.
Hooks improved her scoring average to 25.1 points per game this season. Coming into tonight, Hooks was sixth in the nation and first in the Mid-American Conference in scoring.
Buffalo 73, Eastern Michigan 68
Box Score
YPSILANTI, MI – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team led wire-to-wire for the second straight game as the Bulls defeated Eastern Michigan 73-68 at the Convocation Center on Wednesday night. With the win, the Bulls move to 7-2 on the year and 4-0 in league play. It is the first 4-0 start to MAC play in program history.
The Bulls were led by Dyaisha Fair who scored a game-high 29 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Freshman Cheyenne McEvans recorded a career-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The Bulls opened the game on a 9-2 run, including five points from Elea Gaba, to take an early lead at the 6:38 mark. UB would extend the run to 12-5 on back-to-back fastbreak buckets by Fair and Hanna Hall and they would lead 14-8 at the first media timeout. Buffalo then took advantage of a three-plus minute EMU scoring drought and turned defense into offense to end the quarter on a 6-0 run and take a 22-13 lead at the end of the first.
The Eagles would open the second quarter on a mini 4-0 run before Jazmine Young hit a free throw to snap a four minute UB scoring drought and give UB a 23-17 lead at the 6:23 mark. The Bulls would continue to lock down on defense and use a 13-6 run, including a pair of triples from Fair and Loren Christie, to take a 39-23 lead at the half. Buffalo shot 50% from the floor in the opening half while holding the Eagles to just 23 points on 7-of-26 (26.9%) shooting.
The two teams would trade runs to start the third quarter before the offense stalled on both sides as Buffalo maintained a 47-35 lead at the media timeout. The Eagles would take advantage of a prolonged UB scoring drought to put together a 10-0 run and cut the Buffalo lead to 47-45 before McEvans drained a triple in the corner in the final seconds to give UB a 50-45 lead at the end of the third.
McEvans would continue to heat up to start the fourth as she converted the and-one and drilled a step back three to put Buffalo up 56-49 at the 8:17 mark but the Eagles answered with a 7-0 run to cut the UB lead to 59-58 at the final media timeout. It would be all Fair from there as the sophomore scored 12 of UB's final 14 points, including going 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, to seal the victory for Buffalo.
The Bulls held the narrow 36-34 edge on the glass while also outscoring the Eagles 26-24 in the paint. Buffalo also turned 15 EMU turnovers into 14 points in transition.
Buffalo returns to action on Saturday as they host Central Michigan at Alumni Arena at 1pm in the first game of a doubleheader with the UB men.
