Central Michigan University
Ball State
CMU Women Fall at Ball State
2/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
MUNCIE, Ind. - Central Michigan freshman Aleah Swary finished with a career-high 17 points Wednesday night, but the Chippewa women's basketball team fell to Ball State, 73-64.
It was CMU's fourth consecutive loss in Mid-American Conference play, dropping its record to 11-13, 6-7 in the MAC. Ball State is 14-10, 10-3.
Senior Crystal Bradford was sidelined for the third straight game with a sore knee.
The shorthanded Chippewas executed on both ends of the court better than they did in Saturday's 85-64 loss at Eastern Michigan, but in the end, the MAC-West leading Cardinals proved to have too much firepower, CMU coach Sue Guevara said.
"I asked our kids to be better (Wednesday) than they were Saturday in their execution, and we were," she said. "I thought in the first half, we put together our best half that we've had in a long time.
"Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job, but (Ball State) went to the line 20 times and we went five. That has a lot to do with our lack of penetration and calls not going our way.
"But (Jas'Mine) Bracey played with four fouls and she ends with a double-double. If Lorreal (Jones) could have finished more, she went 3-for-11. It was just tough for us inside tonight."
CMU went 12-for-20 (40 percent) shooting from the field in the first half and ended the game 26-of-39 (37.7 percent). The Chippewas trailed, 34-31, at the break, but were outscored, 39-33, over the final 20 minutes.
Bracey, a senior, led the Chippewas in points with 19 on 9-of-12 shooting. She tallied 11 rebounds to complete the double-double, her fourth of the season and 23rd of her career.
Jones finished with six points and 11 rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
CMU had 37 rebounds total, two less than Ball State who had 39.
Coming into the night, Swary had just nine points on the season. But she converted six of her 16 shots -- five from three-point range -- and added four rebounds.
"I give (Swary) credit for staying the course," Guevara said. "She hadn't been seeing a lot of minutes. I just thought that (Kerby Tamm and Cassandra Breen) needed a break and we needed outside scoring. And that's what Swary gave us.
"Our freshmen are just getting a lot of minutes. Eventually, it's going to pay off with a win. It's just like I told our kids, you just have to stay with the process right now. Forget the outcome and stick with the process because we still have time.
"I say that to our fans back home, too. We come back home on Saturday (against Western Michigan) and I hope that we can get a lot of people to come out and watch us play."
Junior Da'Jourie Turner totaled six points, eight assists and four rebounds.
Ball State was 24-for-55 (43.6 percent) shooting in the game. Shelbie Justice led the Cardinals in scoring with 19 points, while Nathalie Fontaine chipped in 16.
The Chippewas led just once in the second half on a Bracey layup with just under 10 minutes remaining that put CMU up, 51-49. A Justice bucket with 7:40 to play tied it at 51-all, and Ball State outscored the Chippewas, 22-13, the rest of the way.
CMU fell to Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, 69-64, earlier this season. Saturday's tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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