Coach Kelly Packard opted to go with a bigger lineup against Toledo, but the strategy failed considerably as Ball State dropped its second consecutive Mid-American Conference road game of the season, 63-48, Thursday night.
"Really poor," Packard said. "We gave up a 20-point night on 9-for-10 shooting to Yolanda Richardson. We actually did a lot of things well defensively, but in that area, we didn't do well at all. I felt like our team defense outside of the post was actually pretty good tonight."
The differential in shooting percentage proved to be costly for the Cardinals, who shot just 26.9 percent from the field. It was their worst shooting percentage of the season.
The Rockets converted on nearly half of their field goal attempts, which resulted in a bounty of points, especially in the second half.
The Cardinals trailed by 11 at the half, but the Rockets' offense was just getting warmed up. Before the Cardinals could catch their breath, the Rockets were on a 14-3 run just minutes into the second half.
The deficit proved to be too much for the young Cardinals to overcome, despite an 18-point effort from freshman guard Brittany Carter. It was Carter's second highest point total of her career.
Sophomore forward Katie Murphy, who was questionable going into the game with a sprained ankle, played 10 minutes for the Cardinals, but had little success. Murphy couldn't get either of her two shots from the field to fall, but did record three rebounds.
The game-changing factor, according to Packard, was the Cardinals' inability to make adjustments during the game.
"If we would've played any post defense at all, we would've been in that game," Packard said.
The Cardinals will return to Worthen Arena on Sunday afternoon, where they will take on Eastern Division rival Akron at 1 p.m.
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