Mid-American Conference

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women’s basketball team’s balanced attack proved to be too much for Trine to handle, as the Broncos rolled past the Thunder 81-45 at University Arena on Thursday.  With the win, the Broncos improve to 5-3 on the season.

The large score deficit allowed the Broncos to tinker with various line-ups against the Thunder, and all 12 players who saw the court recorded at least one bucket.  WMU was led in scoring by Jessica Jessing, who added a game-high 12 points in addition to four rebounds, a steal and an assist.  AJ Johnson poured in 10 points to go with a game-high five assists and three steals, and Miracle Woods added 10 points, six rebounds, and a game-high four steals.  Michelle O’Brien recorded eight points and eight rebounds, and Teagan Reeves came off the bench for eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.

WMU shot 52.5 percent from the field as a team, including a lights-out 20-of-33 (.606) in the first half, and created havoc on the defensive end by switching their defensive schemes throughout the game.  The Broncos forced the Thunder into 20 turnovers while committing just 12 themselves, including just four in the first half, and out-scored Trine 23-8 in points off turnovers.  WMU dominated the glass with a 40-28 rebound advantage and also recorded 16 steals.

The Broncos opened the game on a 7-2 run, with Johnson factoring in on WMU’s first three baskets; the senior guard dished off to Jessing and Woods for a pair of buckets, and knocked down her own jumper in transition with a shot from the head of the key.  The lead reached 10 points at the 14:30 mark when Reeves collected an offensive rebound and put it back up, making it 16-6 in the early going.  Alex Morton kept it rolling with an old-fashioned three-point play on the fast break after Reeves swatted a shot on the defensive end, collecting the rebound and drawing contact on the lay-up after a coast-to-coast rush to make it 21-8 with 13:23 remaining.

Jessing tacked onto the lead to make it 31-10 after a sweet behind-the-back dish from LaTondra Brooks, hauling the pass in on the fast break and banking it off the glass to give the Broncos a 21-point advantage.  Brooks struck against on the next possession, swiping the ball from Kyleigh Hampton and rushing the length of the court for a lay-up to make it 33-10 with 8:25 to go in the half, and she added an and-one to make it 39-14 with 4:59 to go after Trine turnover gave her a fast break look.  WMU kept the pressure on the Thunder until the very end of the half, with Johnson capping the period by stealing an errant pass and connecting with Harris for a lay-up as time expired to make it 46-21.

Things balanced out early in the second half, with the Broncos and the Thunder trading baskets until WMU took a 57-29 lead with 11:49 to go.  However, the Broncos soon reasserted themselves, blowing the lead up to dizzying proportions as time went on.  Meredith Shipman stretched the lead out to 61-32 with a make off an inbounds play, banking a lefty jumper off the glass to make it a 29-point advantage.  Jessica Jessing swished a three-pointer at the 9:04 after Woods blocked a shot on the defensive end, and Aneisha Carlisle buried one from just inside the three-point line on the right wing to make it 71-36.

The Broncos continued to push, with Reeves making a running in the lane to up the score the 79-41 in the final minutes.  Najee Smith notched a bookends play when she stole the ball from Brooklyn Harrison and laid it in with just over a minute left to make it a 40-point edge at 81-41, and the WMU offense dribbled it out two possessions later to seal out their victory.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Ball State women's basketball team fell to 4-5 on the season after losing 59-47 at Pitt, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Thursday night in Petersen Events Center.

Pitt opened the second half with a with a 10-5 run to take its largest lead of the ball game, 40-24, with 14:06 on the clock, but Ball State would then answer with a 21-12 scoring spurt over the next 10 minutes to cut the Panthers lead to seven (52-45) with 3:07 to play.  Renee Bennett began the Cardinals run after two free throws and a basket from behind the arc, along with help from Candyce Ussery, Fontaine, Calyn Hose, Frannie Frazier and Jill Morrison.  But Ball State's efforts were too late as the Panthers would go back up by 10 (57-47) with 39.7 seconds left securing the win for Pitt.

Ball State took the early 5-2 lead over Pitt in the opening minutes of the ball game after baskets from Shelby Merder and Jill Morrison.  After that, the half saw four ties and five lead changes with Ball State leading 14-13 at the 10:06 mark.  The contest was knotted 18-18 with 5:05 on the clock but the Panthers closed out the half with a 12-1 run to take an 11-point (30-19) advantage over the Cardinals at intermission.

Ball State was led by the 15 points of Fontaine, who also added six rebounds.  Bennett scored seven points while teammate Hosea pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.  Justice and Morrison each had six points on the night.

For the game, Ball State shot 38.3 percent from the field while holding Pitt to a 35.0 shooting percentage.  The Cardinals were out-rebounded 41-to-32, but scored more points in the paint than the Panthers 26-to-22.

The Ball State women's basketball team continues its two-game road trip Sunday when it plays at Western Kentucky at 2 p.m. in E.A. Diddle Arena.