Sunday's Women's Basketball Results
Ball State 68, Pittsburgh 66
Bowling Green 82, East Tennessee State 64
Kent State 105, Hiram 33
Toledo 57, Dayton 45
Cleveland State 76, Akron 58
Georgia Tech 71, Central Michigan 45
Northern Kentucky 75, Miami 66
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Ball State 68, Pittsburgh 66
Boxscore
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Ball State (8-2) prevailed in overtime as the Cardinals moved past ACC foe Pitt (6-4) by a score of 68-66 Sunday afternoon in the Petersen Events Center.
The Cardinals are off to one of their best starts in program history. Today's win marks the first time the Ball State women's basketball team has defeated Pitt.
Ball State head coach Brady Sallee has now defeated five Power 5 conference teams during his tenure with the Cardinals— Minnesota (54-51, 2012-13), Iowa (77-72, 2015-16), Vanderbilt (88-79, 2017-18), Purdue (66-60, 2017-18) and Pitt (68-66, 2022-23).
Ball State was in the drivers seat most of the contest, holding a lead over Pitt for 27:08 of the game's 40 minutes. But the contest was a competitive one which caused the game to go into an extra period today.
In overtime, sophomore Madelyn Bischoff nailed a 3-pointer to put the Cardinals up by three (67-64) with 1:32 left. Pitt would answer on the ensuing possession. A few plays later Pitt had the ball but a rebound from redshirt senior Anna Clephane and the ensuing foul on the play sent her to the line. Clephane made only one of her free throws, but that was enough to seal the victory for Ball State.
The Cardinals struggled in the first six minutes of play as Ball State fell behind the Panthers 12-2 at the 6:01 mark. Sophomore Alex Richard drew a foul from the 3-point line and made all three from the charity stripe, which sparked a 14-0 scoring spree for the Cardinals to end the first quarter of play. A made layup by senior Annie Rauch allowed Ball State to take a 16-12 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Pitt quickly knotted the game 16-16 with seconds shaved off the clock in the second stanza. After that, it was a battle between the two squads on both sides of the court. The back-and-forth affair was tied four times before graduate senior Thelma Dis Agustsdottir drained one from behind the arc with 19 seconds on the clock to give Ball State the 29-26 edge over Pitt at intermission.
Sophomore Ally Becki and Bischoff hit back-to-back jumpers to start the Cardinals off hot after halftime to put Ball State up by nine (35-26). Just a few minutes later, Pitt cut the margin back to five (35-30). But Ball State punched back with an 8-4 run to take its largest lead of the ball game (43-30) at the 5:45 mark.
Pitt wouldn't go away quietly and would come on strong the remainder of the third quarter to make it a close contest. Senior Sydney Shafer was the spark Ball State needed as she came off the bench to hit back-to-back 3-point baskets to put Ball State back up by 10 (53-43). The Cardinals outscored the Panthers in the third stanza, 24-17.
Pitt continued to chop at the heels of the Cardinals in the fourth quarter and managed to tie the game 53-53 with 6:15 remaining in the contest. The final period remained close and would end up going into overtime.
For the game, Richard led Ball State with a career-high 18 points. Agustsdottir chipped in 14 points, while teammates Bischoff and Becki finished the day with 10 apiece. Becki also led the Cardinals with 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
The Ball State women's basketball team will take a week off for finals before returning to the road against Tarleton State (Dec. 19) and Richmond (Dec. 20) at the Puerto Rico Classic.
Bowling Green 82, East Tennessee State 64
Boxscore
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team took an early lead on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 11), picking up an 82-64 win over East Tennessee State University at Brooks Gym.
Lexi Fleming paced four double-digit scorers for the Falcons (7-1), with a season-high 18 points off the bench, while Jocelyn Tate added 16 points and eight rebounds.
Morgan Sharps hit a game-high four three-point field goals en route to 14 points, and Elissa Brett had a double-double, with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Allison Day and Nyla Hampton scored eight points apiece, while Amy Velasco added six. Day had six boards, two assists and a game-best plus/minus rating of +30, while Hempton had five rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Jiselle Thomas was the lone player in double figures for the Buccaneers (8-3), with 16 points.
The Falcons never trailed, leading for the game's final 39:30. Sharps hit a three-pointer to give the visitors a 12-point lead with 3:32 left in the opening quarter, and the Bucs crept within single digits only one time in the remaining 33-plus minutes.
And, after Fleming beat the halftime buzzer with a corner three, the Falcons led by double figures for the entirety of the second half.
Fleming went 7-for-9 from the field, making all five of her attempts from two-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. She has now scored in double digits in three-straight games and in four of the last five contests.
Brett has scored in double figures in all eight games this season, and her double-double on Sunday was her second of the year.
Sharps has now made three or more three-pointers in four of the last five games.
Sunday marked the eighth time in as many games this season that BG had fewer turnovers than the opponent. BGSU committed 11 turnovers at ETSU, while forcing the Bucs into 16.
The Falcons have forced the opponents into 176 turnovers this season, an average of 22 per game, while committing just 97 (12.1 per game) themselves.
The Falcons used offensive rebounding to take an early lead. Allison Day hit a layup after a pair of offensive boards on the game's first possession, and BGSU again grabbed several rebounds at the offensive end before hitting a layup for an early 4-0 advantage.
Jocelyn Tate hit a layup, and Lexi Fleming drove and banked a shot off glass for an 8-2 lead. A steal and layup by Fleming gave the Falcons an 11-2 edge and prompted an ETSU timeout with four and a half minutes gone.
Jiselle Thomas knocked down a jumper out of the timeout, but Day answered with a reverse layup, and Tate immediately stole the ball back for the Falcons. The latter possession saw Fleming find Morgan Sharps for a three-pointer and a 16-4 lead.
The Bucs answered with a three-pointer of their own, but Sharps responded with another triple, then drove for a layup. Hampton came up with a steal and, with the Falcons on a 2-on-1 break, bounced a pass to Amy Velasco for a layup and a 23-7 lead as the hosts used another timeout.
Sophie Dziekan's pass found Sharps for her third trey of the quarter, and BGSU had a 26-12 lead after 10 minutes.
Tate found Day for a one-hander off glass on the first possession of the quarter, and several moves by Tate resulted in her shaking her defender and going in all alone for a layup and a 30-12 lead.
Sarah Thompson hit a corner layup, but the Falcons had an immediate answer, as Fleming spotted Brett for a three-ball from the wing. Tate hit a jumper, and Fleming converted a layup, but Meleah Kirtner responded to each shot by hitting a three-pointer.
With the ETSU fans beginning to make noise, Brett grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a short jumper for a 39-24 BG lead. The Bucs slowly crept back into the game, and after a Tate layup, Kirtner's third triple of the period cut the margin to single digits, 42-33.
The Falcons upped the lead to double digits once again, though, as Fleming grabbed the ball after a near turnover and splashed a corner three in the final seconds of the half, giving BG a 45-33 lead at the intermission.
Hampton blew by her would-be defender for a layup on the opening possession of the quarter, and Day threw the ball inside to Tate, who got her defender to go one way before spinning the other way and hitting a layup for a 49-33 lead.
Tate came over midcourt and fired a jump pass to Sharps for a catch-and-shoot three, but that play was sandwiched between a pair of and-one buckets by Thomas. Her free throw after the second such hoop cut BG's lead to 52-39, and after Thomas found Jayla Ruffus-Milner for another and-one hoop, the Falcons used a time out.
Out of that break, the free throw cut BG's lead to 52-42. A pair of Velasco defensive rebounds resulted in five points for the Falcons, as Tate ran the floor and took a Sharps pass for a layup after the first board, while Velasco got the ball back and hit a three-pointer on the next possession. BGSU's lead was 15. Fleming's deep three in the final moments of the period gave the Falcons a 60-46 lead after three periods.
BGSU started the fourth quarter strong, as Hampton immediately found Fleming for a layup. The Bucs answered with a layup, but Sharps whipped a pass to Hampton for a corner three and a 65-48 lead with just 40 seconds gone.
Hampton assisted on two more buckets, finding Brett ahead of the pack for a layup, then driving and dishing to a Dziekan for a layup and a 69-59 advantage.
The hosts slowly cut into the BGSU lead, and a pair of free throws with 5:13 on the clock gave the Bucs an 8-0 run and cut the deficit to 11 points. But, both Tate and Fleming got to the line and hit a pair of free throws, giving the Orange and Brown a 73-58 lead.
Brett found Day for a nifty layup, and Hampton tracked down a defensive rebound and found Fleming all alone for a layup. When Tate was fouled with the shot clock winding down, the soph knocked down two more shots from the stripe to extend BG's lead to 19, and Day kicked the ball to Brett for a corner three and an 82-62 lead with just under two minutes to go.
The Falcons shot 47.8 percent from the field on the day, going 32-of-67. BGSU was 10-for-25 (40%) from the arc and 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the free-throw line.
After making just two of five free-throw attempts in the first three quarters, the Falcons were 6-of-8 from the stripe in the fourth period.
The Bucs shot 35.6% from the floor, going 21-of-59. ETSU went 6-of-19 from three-point range, for a 31.6% success rate, but the hosts were 0-for-8 from the arc in the second half.
BGSU had a 41-36 rebounding advantage, with both teams finding success at the offensive end of the court. BG had 17 offensive boards, while ETSU grabbed 16.
The Falcons had advantages of 44-26 in points in the paint, 18-10 in fast-break points, 26-21 in bench scoring and 21-9 in points off turnovers. ETSU had a narrow 17-15 lead in second-chance points.
Sharps had three steals and Hampton two, as the Falcons came up with 10 steals as a team. Sunday, as mentioned, marked the eighth time in as many games this season that BG had fewer turnovers than the opponent.
After posting an overall record of 19-42 in head coach Robyn Fralick's first two seasons at the helm, BGSU has gone 46-25 over the last two-plus seasons.
The Falcons will return to the state of Indiana, facing IUPUI on Thursday (Dec. 15). Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at IUPUI Gymnasium ("The Jungle").
Then, the Orange and Brown will fly to Texas for the South Padre Island Classic, where the Falcons' opponents will include Texas A&M-Commerce (Dec. 19) and UTRGV (Dec. 20). BGSU's next home game is on Dec. 30, when Findlay comes to the Stroh Center.
Kent State 105, Hiram 33
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio — Kent State women's basketball set a program record for margin of victory on Sunday afternoon, defeating Hiram College by a score of 105-33. The 72-point margin topped the previous record of 66 against Muskingum on Jan. 19, 1979.
The Golden Flashes (6-3) surpassed 100 points in a game for the second season in a row and posted the highest scoring performance since beating Bowling Green, 106-84, on Jan. 17, 2000. Kent State shot 38-of-72 from the floor for a season-best 52.8%.
All 13 Flashes who saw action scored and grabbed a rebound. Senior Katie Shumate led all players with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting in only 13 minutes. Graduate students Abby Ogle and Annie Pavlansky both finished with a career-high 13 points. Junior Casey Santoro and freshman Dionna Gray added 10 points apiece. This is the second double-digit scoring game for Gray, who registered a career-high four assists.
Defensive pressure was applied from the tip and Kent State totaled 26 steals, the most in a game in more than a decade. Ogle led the way with five steals while sophomore Lexy Linton and graduate student Hannah Young added three each. The Flashes held the Terriers to 18.4% shooting and converted 35 turnovers into 52 points.
Kent State outrebounded Hiram 43-24. Freshman Tatiana Thomas led the way with a career-high eight rebounds and added a career-high eight points. Young grabbed six boards and sophomore Bridget Dunn and Pavlansky added five apiece.
Linton joined the list of Flashes who had a career-high scoring performance with six points. Redshirt freshman Elena Maier scored the first points of her collegiate career, knocking down a three-pointer from the corner during the second period.
Kent State will break for final exams and return to action Dec. 20 against Otterbein. The Education Day game will tip at 11 a.m. inside of the M.A.C. Center.
Toledo 57, Dayton 45
Boxscore
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team (8-2) won its fifth straight game on Sunday, a 57-45 victory over Dayton (0-10) at Savage Arena.
The win snaps the Rockets' three-game losing streak against Dayton, which has made 15 straight postseason appearances and won an NCAA Tournament game last season.
Toledo controlled the game from the outset and by the end of the first half led Dayton by double figures. The Flyers trimmed the Rockets' lead down to seven points midway through the third quarter, but would not get any closer. Dayton's final total of 45 points marks the second time this season UT held an opponent to fewer than 50 points.
Leading the charge on Sunday was junior Khera Goss, who scored a career-best 16 points, the sixth time this season she has eclipsed double figures in scoring. Senior Quinesha Lockett scored 10 points while dishing out five assists. Senior Sophia Wiard stuffed the box score, tying a career-high with 11 rebounds and adding seven points, six assists, and a team-best three steals. Junior Sammi Mikonowicz and sophomore Jessica Cook each tallied seven rebounds, helping Toledo win the battle on the glass, 45-36.
Dayton was led by Anyssa Jones and her 14 points and seven rebounds. Maliya Perry contributed 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Next up for Toledo is a home game vs. Oakland (4-4) on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 7:00 p.m.
Bleacher tickets for Toledo's home games vs. Oakland (Dec. 21), Western Michigan (Jan. 4), and Ball State (Jan. 11) are available for $8.00 in advance and $9.00 at the door. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Rocket Athletic Ticket Office at the Sullivan Athletic Complex in Savage Arena, contact the Rocket Athletic Ticket Office at 419-530-GOLD (4653) or go online to UTRockets.com/tix.
Goss made the first basket of the game, but Dayton's Taisiya Kozlova followed that up with a three-pointer to put the Flyers ahead by a point early.
With the score tied at 5-5, Toledo launched a 9-0 scoring run to take a 14-5 lead with 3:50 to go in the quarter. Mikonowicz and Garcia bookended the scoring spurt with three-pointers.
Cook ended the quarter with a basket right off a Dayton turnover to put UT ahead 16-10.
Lockett opened the second quarter with a three-pointer to put Toledo's lead at 19-10.
A quick 6-2 run for the Flyers put them within five points, 23-18, at the 2:03 mark of the quarter.
The Rockets were able to push their lead back into double figures by halftime, putting the score at 30-19.
Dayton's Shannon Wheeler scored the first points of the second half, but Goss scored the next four points bring Toledo's lead to 13 points, 34-21.
The Rockets' lead sat in double figures for much of the third quarter, but a 6-0 run by Dayton did trim the lead to seven, 36-29, with 5:34 to go in the quarter.
Toledo responded to UD's run by scoring five straight points on a bucket by Mikonowicz and a trey from Jansen to make it 41-29.
The third quarter ended with UT leading 45-35.
After Dayton's Maliya Perry scored the first basket of the quarter, the Rockets answered with seven straight points to bring their lead to a game-high 15 points, 52-37. Goss' three-pointer at the 6:17 mark of the quarter concluded UT's fourth-quarter scoring run.
Dayton hit back with five straight points to trim the lead to nine, 52-43.
In the final two minutes of the game, Wiard's three-pointer and Jansen's layup cemented the Rockets' double-figure lead, which settled at 57-45 when the final horn sounded.
