After recovering from an 11-point deficit with four minutes to play, Ball State University's women's basketball team ran out of steam in overtime of Wednesday's game at Ohio University.
The Bobcats scored the first nine points in the extra period, and the Cardinals never pulled within one possession down the stretch, dropping their second game of the Mid-American Conference season, 88-82. It's the second consecutive year Ball State lost to Ohio, which continues in a tie atop the Mid-American Conference East Division.
Ball State entered the contest soaring high following a 21-point victory against Bowling Green State University but acting head coach Lisa McDonald said her team didn't play with the necessary energy level from the beginning.
"It's frustrating in the fact that I didn't feel like we had the intensity we needed to play competitively," McDonald said. "Playing with energy is as important to us as executing our plays. When we don't have energy, we don't play our best. We have to find out a way to create our own energy. It's just the mentality that we have to take in."
With 20 seconds remaining, Ball State held possession of the ball and a chance to win the game in regulation. McDonald said she called a play design to send the ball into the paint in the hands of Cardinals' forward Julie DeMuth.
The play was executed and DeMuth caught a pass in the low post. However, Ball State was unable to get a shot away when the senior was called for an offensive foul with six seconds remaining.
The Cardinals came up with a defensive stop at the buzzer and sent the game into overtime with a 70-70 tie. Despite the disappointing end to regulation and the slow start in overtime, McDonald said, she thought her team had momentum entering the final period.
"I think we felt like we had momentum coming into the overtime because of the great comeback," McDonald said. "Maybe more than anything, we spent so much energy fighting into overtime."
The two teams battled to a 20-20 tie with slightly more than eight minutes remaining in the opening period. Ohio scored 10 unanswered points during the ensuing three minutes, however, and stretched its lead to 39-27 at intermission.
Despite the Bobcats' inability to put Ball State away in the second half, the Cardinals never trailed in the final 20 minutes.
"We gave it all we had," sophomore guard Audrey McDonald said. "We just got down too much too early."
Freshman Emily Maggert came off the bench to lead five Ball State players in double figures with 20 points. Audrey McDonald was second on the team with 19.
Lauren Kohn led five Ohio players in double figures with 22 points and added seven rebounds.
Ball State also lost its lead in the MAC West Division to Western Michigan University, which beat Bowling Green 79-73 Wednesday night. The Broncos are now 6-1 in the MAC, a game ahead of the Cardinals' 5-2 record.
Despite the disappointing loss, Maggert devised a rather elementary means of recovering
"We're going to go back to practice and keep working," she said. "We're going to be fine."
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