With 6.5 seconds remaining in Monday's WNIT and the University of Kentucky holding an 85-82 lead, Wildcats' junior Samantha Mahoney stood at the foul line with the chance to put the game out of reach.
Instead, Mahoney, who was nine of nine from the foul line to this point, missed her first foul shot of the night, effectively giving Ball State University new life.
Cardinals' sophomore Porchia Green grabbed the rebound and raced to the other end of the floor. However, instead of pulling up for a potential game-tying 3-pointer, Green drove to the basket. Before Green could release a shot, the game clock ran out, ending one of the most successful women's basketball seasons in Ball State history with a loss.
Ball State called its final time-out with 39 seconds to play and was unable to set up what it wanted to do with its final possession after Green's rebound.
"It would have been nice to have a time-out at that point, especially when you have a sophomore and a freshman [Audrey McDonald] on the floor," Roller said. "We tried to communicate, but the crowd [of 3581 fans] was so loud and we just couldn't get it done."
Kentucky coach Mickie DeMoss said her team was guarding the perimeter closely on the game's final possession to keep Ball State from getting an open chance to put the contest into overtime.
"We were switching on defense because we knew they had to have a three," DeMoss said. "Our defense was just solid and [Ball State] wasn't able to get the shot off in time."
The Wildcats' Jenny Pfeiffer, who scored 13 points on four of eight shooting from behind the 3-point arc, connected on a 3-point field goal to jump Kentucky out to its largest lead of the game at 64-52. However, Ball State answered with a 20-5 run that pulled the Cardinals within three with 5:53 remaining in regulation.
Ball State, which never led during the game, missed its next seven field goal attempts and Kentucky scored six unanswered points, increasing its lead to 78-69 with 3:21 remaining. The closest Ball State got the rest of the game was two points with seven seconds to play.
"We haven't [missed open shots] very often this year," Roller said. "I'd have to say it's pretty unusual for us. You'd have to think it was something Kentucky was doing."
Ball State's forward Lisa Rusche ended her junior season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow junior forward Julie DeMuth, who became the 18th Cardinal player to reach 1,000 career points by scoring her sixth point of the first half, added 22 points and seven boards in the contest.
Even with the production Ball State got from its starting front court, the Cardinals held a mere 38-32 advantage in points in the paint. Kentucky's 6-foot-6 starting center Sarah Elliott scored 18 points on nine of 16 shooting to lead the Wildcats offensively. The junior also altered several shots from Ball State's guards when they penetrated into the painted area.
Elliott said one of her team's primary goals was to match Ball State's production in the post.
"We definitely needed an inside presence because we know Ball State has an inside presence," Elliott said. "For our post players, we just had to step it up and play just as aggressive as them. Throughout the game we had to match them [in the post] or we knew we'd have a long night."
Kentucky was able to take good care of the ball offensively, finishing with seven turnovers on the game. The Wildcats' offensive execution kept Ball State from using its defense to generate easy points offensively.
Ball State finished with 12 points off those seven turnovers, but was only able to muster two fast-break points.
Playing in her final game, Ball State senior point guard Kelsey Corbin scored 17 points and added a career-high 13 assists. DeMoss said it was critical to take care of every possession offensively.
"Usually we have seven turnovers at the half," DeMoss said. "I knew we needed to take care of the ball and seven turnovers might be an all-time low for us."
Playing in her final collegiate game, Kelsey Corbin, who will be on Ball State's coaching staff next year, scored 17 points and added a career-high 13 assists. Kentucky's starting point guard, Carly Ormerod, battled her all night, finishing with 13 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.
Ball State finished with an overall record of 24-7. It's the Cardinals' highest winning percentage in the program's 33-year history. Ball State's 24 wins also tied the 2001-02 season for highest win total in a single year.
Roller said it was difficult to say goodbye to such a historic season.
"When we came into this year we said we wanted to take this program into the next level," Roller said. "It was a sad day from Tom Hammond's [long-time PA announcer of Ball State basketball who died of heart problems Wednesday] moment of silence to the moment the final buzzer sounded. It was a sad ending to a really awesome year."
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