After two free throws from senior guard Rana Elhusseini midway through the second quarter, the Bulls (17-12, 10-8 MAC) went flat, giving up a 10-0 run to Ball State (27-4, 16-2 MAC). In a game that the Bulls never led, a “kill shot” in the first half — a run of 10-0 or more — was the nail in the coffin. UB went into halftime down 15-39 and never recovered.
In the final game of the regular season, UB women’s basketball lost 71-50 to the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena, leaving a stain on the team’s senior night. The Bulls were unable to secure a winning streak in the last few games of their regular season, going 3-4 in their last seven games. The defeat keeps the Bulls as the No. 4 seed heading into the first round of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) playoffs.
UB struggled shooting the ball against the Cardinals, converting at just a 36.5% clip from the field and 22.2% from beyond the arc. The Bulls turned the ball over a season-high 23 times, largely the result of the full-court press from Ball State’s backcourt. UB’s backcourt of Elhusseini and freshman guard Kirsten Lewis-Williams combined for 11 of those turnovers.
As soon as the game began, Ball State set the pace by applying full-court pressure and maintaining it until the final buzzer went off. UB had difficulty working around the Cardinals’ aggressive playstyle as they conceded seven unanswered points to start. The Bulls were controlled in nearly every aspect of the game as they ended the first quarter behind by 15 points.
UB trailed by 24 points going into the second half. In the third quarter, the Bulls were able to prevent the Cardinals from making any of their three-point attempts and limited their shooting percentage to 29%. Unfortunately, Ball State broke UB’s defensive floodgates and cemented their victory with their second “kill shot” of the game.
Elhusseini was named player of the game, marking 11 rebounds, 8 points and four assists. Redshirt senior guard and star player Chellia Watson also played well, putting up 16 points and three assists.
The Bulls will next face No. 5 seed Bowling Green (16-13, 10-8 MAC) in the first round of the MAC playoffs on Wednesday. Tip-off is 1:30 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at henry.daley@ubspectrum.com
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. His work has featured on other platforms such as Medium and Last Word on Sports. Outside of the newspaper, he enjoys running and watching sports (when he’s not writing about them).
