Ball State handily defeated Ohio by 31 points Saturday, as the Cardinals opened the game with a burst of scoring and never looked back.
The Cardinals led 13-4 three minutes into their 77-46 win, and Ohio never led in the contest.
Ohio junior guard Shavon Robinson and sophomore guard Mariah Byard missed the game because of injury. Neither has played in a Mid-American Conference game this season.
Forwards Tina Fisher, a senior, and Lexie Baldwin, a freshman, had Ohio’s (5-13, 0-6 MAC) first eight points, but by that point the Cardinals (8-11, 5-1 MAC) had already jumped out to 20-7 lead.
Five Cardinals scored in the game’s first 10 minutes, while only Baldwin, Fisher and freshman guard Kiyanna Black scored for Ohio during that span.
"Give credit to both of those players for playing extremely hard,” Ohio coach Semeka Randall said. “The rest of our group was back stuck in Athens. It was very disappointing."
Ohio was able to keep the Cardinals’ leading scorer, freshman guard Nathalie Fontaine, scoreless until the two-minute mark of the first half, when she converted a layup.
Ball State junior guard Brandy Woody made her way to the line frequently, as she finished the game with 23 points on 10-for-12 free throw shooting.
The Cardinals took a 42-27 lead into the locker room behind a pair of free throws from Woody.
Black cashed in a layup early after the break to secure her 12th double-figure game of the season, but Ball State was there to answer, as the Cardinals’ Brittany Carter, a sophomore guard, knocked down a three.
The Bobcats cut Ball State’s lead to nine with 13 minutes remaining, but did not have the staying power to mount a comeback because of a total of 22 turnovers.
At that point, the Cardinals began to pull away, being that Ohio got into foul trouble. Coupled with their lack of depth, the fouls were a bit much to overcome for the Bobcats. The Cardinals almost doubled Ohio’s second-half production, as they scored 35 points to the Bobcats’ 19.
“We just absolutely did not come out here ready to go,” Randall said.
After scoring nine points in the first half, Fisher fouled out with 4:23 left in the game. She failed to score in the second half.
The Bobcats would not contend in the final minutes of the half because of foul trouble. Randall said her team did not follow its game plan.
"We tried to adjust things and help them get ready to go, (but) for them to go out here with this performance leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” Randall said.
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