#12 Louisville 69, Ball State 56
#24 Purdue 66, Toledo 48
Michigan 74, Western Michigan 47
Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
#12 Louisville 69, Ball State 56
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sophomore guard Jill Morrison led the Ball State women's basketball team in scoring with a 20-point showing in the Cardinals' 69-56 loss at Louisville, the 12th ranked team in the nation, Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.
Louisville started the game off with a 5-0 run to take the early lead and would continue to control the first half despite multiple efforts from Ball State. The Cardinals kept the game close the entire first half, including two ties -- one at the 17:11 mark (5-5) after back-to-back baskets from Shelbie Justice and Renee Bennett and again 9-9 with 15:11 remaining in the half.
After that, Louisville went on an 8-0 run to take a 17-9 lead over Ball State. With 6:56 on the clock, Morrison nailed a three-point basket to make it a five-point ball game (26-21) but Louisville would close out the half with a 12-6 run to take a 38-27 halftime advantage over the Cardinals.
Ball State orchestrated an 11-2 run in the opening minutes of the second half to cut its halftime deficit to two (40-38) after baskets from Justice, Nathalie Fontaine and Morrison. But that was as close as the Cardinals would get as Louisville would go back up by 10 (54-44) with 10:16 to play and would stay in control the remainder of the contest.
Ball State held Louisville to a 38.8 shooting percentage for the contest, while the Cardinals shot 56.3 percent from the field. The Cardinals fought hard but Louisville capitalized on the day by scoring 30 points off of Ball State's 34 turnovers.
The Cardinals fall to 1-2 on the season, while Louisville improved to 4-0.
Morrison led Ball State with 20 points, which included three baskets from behind the arc. Fontaine managed 11 points and a team high nine rebounds.
The Ball State women's basketball team will host the 2014 Ball State Federal Credit Union Thanksgiving Classic Saturday and Sunday in Worthen Arena. The first game begins at noon when Jackson State faces Duquesne. The Cardinals are slated to play Murray State at 2:30 p.m.
Sunday’s consolation game will also be at noon and tipoff for the championship game will be 2:30 p.m.
To purchase tickets for the game, log on to www.ballstatesports.com or call 1.888.BSU.TICKET.
#24 Purdue 66, Toledo 48
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Toledo dropped a 66-48 decision at No. 24 Purdue on Sunday in Mackey Arena. With the loss, the Rockets fall to 1-2 on the season.
Freshman Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott paced UT with a season-high 13 points off the bench. Bravo-Harriott shot 4-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point land, and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe to score in double figures for the second time in the three games this season.
Freshman Michaela Rasmussen added a season-best 12 points and senior Inma Zanoguera had 10 and a squad-high three assists.
As a team, the Rockets shot 31.0 percent (18-of-58) from the floor, including 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from beyond the arc, and 60.0 percent (9-of-15) from the free-throw line to fall to 3-18 against ranked opponents since 1995-96.
Toledo did more than held its own on the boards and won the battle on the glass for a third-straight game, 36-33. Sophomore Sophie Reecher fueled the efforts with a team-high eight caroms, while junior Brenae Harris and Capotosto had five each.
"I thought we did a good job on the boards against a very physical team," seventh-year head coach Tricia Cullop said. "I thought for 60 percent of today's game we competed at a high level, but we didn't finish. We're still going through some growing pains with such a young team."
April Wilson led the victorious Boilermakers (2-1) with 12 points off the bench, followed by Andreona Keys and Hayden Hamby with 10 each. The home team also received eight points from both Ashley Morrissette and Liza Clemons to improve to 8-0 all-time against the Rockets.
Purdue raced out to a 7-0 lead on the Rockets at the 16:44 mark. Toledo countered with a run of its own over the next several minutes, taking a three-point advantage, 15-12, on the strength of a pair of treys from Bravo-Harriott and one from junior Ana Capotosto. Unfortunately for the Midnight Blue & Gold, they mustered only one field goal over the last 11 minutes of the opening half and trailed 34-20 at the intermission.
UT stood toe-to-toe with one of the Big Ten Conference’s elite teams over the first six minutes of the second stanza, pulling within 12 points at 43-31. Five different Rockets scored points in the burst to bring the crowd of 5,969 to the edge of their seats.
However, Purdue’s Morrissette essentially put the game out of reach, scoring all eight points in an 8-0 run to build a 51-31 cushion with 12:18 left in regulation.
Toledo made one final push near the seven-minute mark, trimming the margin to 15 points, 60-45, but Purdue countered with the next six points to push the advantage to 20-plus points.
The Rockets return to action on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 28-30 when they participate in the FIU Holiday Classic in Miami, FL. UT will take on ACC member Virginia in the first round of the two-day tourney at approximately 8:00 p.m. on Friday in the FIU Arena. Toledo will then battle either PAC-12 affiliate Arizona or the host Conference USA member Panthers in the second round on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. or 2:00 p.m.
Michigan 74, Western Michigan 47
ANN ARBOR, Mich.- The Western Michigan women’s basketball team fell to Big Ten counterpart Michigan in its first road game of the season, 74-47. The Broncos flashed some bright spots at the beginning of the game, but in the long run, Michigan’s size & speed was too much to overcome.
The Broncos (2-1 record) started off strong, as WMU won the opening tip off and senior A.J. Johnson scored an easy layup. Western Michigan went on to build a 15-8 lead over the first seven minutes of the game.
After getting down early, Michigan used its height and length in a 2-3 zone to force Western Michigan into taking outside shots. The Broncos had to play with a smaller lineup as well for much of the first half after 6-2 junior forward Jessica Jessing took a hard elbow to the mouth and 6-0 junior post Miracle Woods picked up two fouls. Jessing exited the game at 16:25 in the first half and did not return.
The Wolverines (3-1) broke a 21-21 tie with 8:21 remaining in the first half and closed out the period outscoring WMU, 21-7. U-M made 8 of its final 10 shots of the half and led 42-28 at the break.
“After Michigan went on a run, I thought our team at that point, and it’s not a selfish thing individually, but I thought collectively we were trying to one-on-one guys trying to fix it and stop it by themselves,” said WMU head coach Shane Clipfell. “What we are trying to learn from that is to wrap ourselves around each other and say we have to do this together.”
The second half didn’t fare any better for Western Michigan, as the team continued to battle foul trouble and the Wolverines continued to add to their lead. The Broncos shot just 25 percent in the second half and 32.1 percent for the game. Rebounding was another area where Western Michigan fell short as Michigan dominated the boards, 48-21.
“The biggest thing I am disappointed with in our team was the rebounding. We knew it was going to be tough to keep it neutralized or even, but I didn’t think they would be plus 20 on the boards,” Clipfell said. “That combined with the fact that we couldn’t make a basket down the stretch were our two biggest deficiencies.”
Michigan 6-3 senior forward Cyesha Goree posed problems for Western Michigan defensively, especially with Jessing out of the lineup, and finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Goree was one of three Wolverines to score in double figures, joined by Katelynn Flaherty with a game-high 18 points and Siera Thompson with 11 points.
Nine players scored for Western Michigan but no one reached double digits. Senior forward Jazmine Windham had nine points and five rebounds before fouling out with 3:05 left in the game. Alex Morton also had nine points, while Johnson and Woods each contributed eight points.
Western Michigan heads to Chicago State for its next contest, Saturday, Nov. 29 at 3:05 p.m. ET. The Broncos are 10-3 all-time against the Cougars. WMU returns to Kalamazoo to host Kentucky State on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
