???The women's basketball team's most valuable player showed up Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, her supporting cast was unable to provide her with much help.
???Despite sophomore forward Kourtney Brown's career-high 31 points, Buffalo (5-18, 1-8 Mid-American Conference) continued their losing ways against Ball State (15-8, 7-2), falling to the Cardinals, 83-62. The loss is Buffalo's 15th defeat in the last 16 games.
???"Kourtney has been the consistent player for us. The game that we won last week, we had five people hitting double figures. But we need to see that every game," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "We need to have at least three players scoring in double figures on a regular basis-not just one who does it on a regular basis. That inconsistency has been a real thorn in our side."???
???A competitive first half was promising for the Bulls. After falling behind 29-19 with six minutes left in the half, the Bulls outscored Ball State 13-8. A jumper by junior Rachelle Matthys with 13 seconds left made the score 37-32 before the halftime buzzer. Brown's 15 points kept the Bulls in the game.
???The Bulls continued to hang within striking distance for most of the second-half. Ball State was unable to grab a double-digit lead until a Jade Barber jumper at the 12:34 mark. Two free throws from freshman Beth Christensen got the score back to single digits, 52-44.
???Ball State responded with a 7-2 run that made the score 59-46 with nine minutes left. The quick run looked to put the Bulls out of the game.
???Brown made sure the Cardinals wouldn't run away with the game just yet. She scored the next six points to get the deficit back to single digits. After a layup from senior Jamie Schiebner, sophomore forward Jessica Fortman drained a 3-point shot to give the Bulls some life and make the score 63-57 with 4:47 left.
???The Fortman shot would be Buffalo's last breath. Ball State went on to outscore the Bulls 20-5 over the last four minutes to remain in first place in the MAC West.
???"We didn't hit shots on the offensive end, had some critical turnovers, and they came down and hit some big threes," Hill-MacDonald said.
???Ball State's blowout victory outshined a noteworthy performance by Brown. She shot 12-of-16 from the floor and scored half of Buffalo's points. Brown was the first Bull to score 30 points since Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe tallied the feat on Feb. 19, 2003. With her 11 rebounds, Brown produced her fifth double-double of the season.
???Brown credits her teammates for finding her in the post.
???"My teammates were able to find me a lot down low and I think they were just looking for me," she said. "I just wanted to perform well and help my team win at any means possible, whether it was getting down low, posting hard, running the floor, getting a stop, whatever we needed."
???Outside of Brown's superb shooting, the rest of the team shot 12-for-48. Schiebner helped Brown out with eight points, but shot 4-of-12 from the floor. She also committed six of Buffalo's 19 turnovers. Freshman guard Brittany Hedderson also scored eight points for the Bulls. She came off the bench and distributed four assists.
???Four double-digit scorers led Ball State Sunday afternoon. Porchia Green led the way with 15 points and eight assists in 36 minutes of action. Danielle Gratton chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds. Emily Maggert gave the Cardinals 12 points and seven rebounds, while Jade Barber came off the bench to score 10 points in 12 minutes.
???The Bulls will look to reverse their losing skid when they travel to Eastern Michigan to take on the Eagles on Wednesday. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
