Ball State's comeback falls short against Wyoming

Carter misses game-tying shot

Brittany Carter went 0-of-3 from behind the 3-point line in the first half of Tuesday’s game.

In the second half, she went 3-of-4 from behind the arc, but missed the potential game-tying 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in Ball State’s 64-61 loss at Wyoming.

“We executed (the final play) perfectly,” Sallee said. “We got her a great look. I’d take that look every game in that situation.”

The Cardinals fall to 3-9 on the season with one game remaining before Mid-American Conference play begins.

“We played with a lot of effort,” Sallee said. “I thought we executed really, really well. It just came down to a shot or two that rolled out and if it had rolled in, it would’ve been a different game.”

Ball State went into halftime with a two-point lead, 29-27.

Wyoming then went on a 14-1 run out of halftime. Ball State then tied it at 42 with a little less than 10 minutes remaining.

Ball State gave up nine 3-pointers Tuesday night, two more than it was giving up than before the game on a per-game basis.

However, Sallee didn’t see Wyoming’s 3-pointers as the biggest catalyst for the loss.

“You give them credit,” Sallee said. “They ran some action and they got the three they wanted. They knocked it down.”

However, he also admitted that his team “had a couple breakdowns.”

Sallee believed that a bigger problem was his team giving up 18 free throws to Wyoming in the second half.

Wyoming didn’t go to the line once in the first half.

“That was probably a little bit more of a culprit,” Sallee said. “We were trying to play hard. We went through some stretches where we didn’t play particularly smart and we ended with some fouls.”

Wyoming made 11 of its free-throw attempts.

Sallee believed that Wyoming worked harder to draw fouls in the second half, saying “(Wyoming) played a little bit more aggressively, trying to get the ball to the basket.”

Wyoming went up by eight with just 48 seconds remaining in the game before Ball State performed another of its last-second heroics.

Carter hit two 3-pointers during the final stretch of the game.

Two days after setting a new career high in points, junior Brandy Woody had another productive game for Ball State.

She scored just eight points and dished out six assists.

The 5-foot-4 guard also led the game with eight rebounds. There has been a pattern to Ball State’s season so far. It has lost three, then won the next, then lost three straight again, then won another. Ball State is now on its third three-game losing streak of the season.

“I’d like the pattern to be win three, lose one, win three, lose one,” Sallee said with a laugh. “It’s the other way around. We’re definitely due.”

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