Trailing 28-21 with just 40 seconds left, Ball State was slicing into Austin Peay’s lead, had momentum and enough time to possibly make it a one score game going into halftime.
Instead, two turnovers and a layup buzzer beater later, they trailed 32-21 at halftime and all momentum was shattered.
“We just fell apart, we crumbled,” Ball State coach Brady Sallee said. “We can’t afford to have mental breakdowns like that on the road, they lead to losses.”
Rebounding continues to be the Cardinals biggest weakness. After eight games, Ball State is being outrebounded by more than seven a game, including by 11 in their 79-66 loss to Austin Peay Saturday night.
“Mental mistakes were huge,” Sallee said. “Not boxing out and getting to the basket really hurt us in the long run.”
The Governors had double the offensive rebounds that Ball State did, 14-7, which led to a large disparity in second chance points. Ball State was outshot by 10 over the course of the game.
“Our biggest problem is inconsistency on both offensive and defensive boards,” Sallee said. “One game, we’ll have several girls who each pull down six or seven boards, then we’ll have ones like tonight where it seems like we can’t get a body in the paint.”
Guard Brandy Woody, standing at just 5-feet-4 inches, brought in seven rebounds alone.
Ball State’s Nathalie Fontaine and Katie Murphy are supposed to be the Cardinals main rebounders in the paint, but they only pulled down nine rebounds combined.
Murphy alone had six, coming just two days after tying her career-high of 14 rebounds against Murray State.
Fontaine and Murphy scored 13 and 12 points respectively, but most of them came within the final five minutes of the game when the Governors lead was hovering around 20.
Sallee stressed the importance of playing at a high level when the game is still close.
“They turned it on, but it was too late,” Sallee said. “Anyone can play well when you’re behind and don’t feel pressure, we need them to turn it up and make those plays when the game is on the line.”
Turnovers also plagued Ball State, committing 22, which Sallee said was a big part of the loss.
“We can’t be giving other teams extra opportunities to score,” Sallee said. “Players like Meghan Bussabarger can torch us, we can’t give her extra chances to hurt us.”
Bussabarger led Austin Peay with 20 points on 8-11 shooting.
The only thing that saved the game from being a blowout was the Cardinals improved free throw shooting.
Sallee said he’s very pleased with how much better the team is shooting after Ball State shot poorly in its first couple of game.
Against Stetson and Murray State, Ball State made more free throws than its opponent even attempted.
The trend continued for a third consecutive game against Austin Peay, as the Cardinals went 20-24 from the free throw line.
Murray State took just 17 shots total.
Ball State is now shooting over 70 percent from the free throw line for the season.
