MUNCIE, Ind. – Old Dominion women’s basketball could not overcome a slow start at Ball State on Monday night as the Monarchs dropped their season opener to the Cardinals, 60-46 in round one of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.
“We did not get good looks because we did not execute the way we should have,” said ODU Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. “I thought defensively we put together some strong moments for three quarters, especially in the second half, but we just couldn’t find a way to get back to our basics. We gave up too many layups, too many wide-open cuts to the basket. Either both people were communicating and did the same job and left someone open, or we weren’t talking at all.”
ODU couldn’t crack the Ball State defense at the beginning of the first quarter as the hosts jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Kelsey Thompson finally got the Monarchs (0-1) on the scoreboard at the 5:28 mark as the Mobile, Alabama native earned a trip to the free-three line and converted both of her shots. A Simone Cunningham layup and a three-ball from En’Dya Buford helped trim the Cardinals’ (1-0) lead to 10-7, and Buford found Simaru Fields at the top of the arc for another deep ball to get ODU to within 12-10. With just under two minutes to play in the opening stanza, Mariah Clayton scored a layup to get ODU to back within a point at 13-12, but Ball State’s Ally Becki nailed a three-pointer to round out the first.
The Monarchs kept it close early in the second quarter as a field goal from Fields had ODU trailing 20-19 with 6:51 on the clock. However, the Cardinals put together a 15-0 run to pull away 39-21 with under a minute to go in the first half. Camryn Hill then snapped the scoring drought with a last-second bucket and ODU went into the locker room down 39-23.
Buford opened the scoring in the third with a second-chance layup and Clayton added a fast-break jumper outside of the paint as ODU trailed 39-27 at the 8:53 mark. The hosts kept it a double-digit ball game until Clayton and Ball State’s Sydney Bolden were both issued technical fouls with 1:28 left in the quarter. Clayton was awarded two free throws on the play, and the Mesquite, Texas native made the first but missed the second to trim Ball State’s lead to 47-38. Zuri Ransom responded with a three-pointer and Marie Kiefer went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to send the game to the final quarter.
Ball State went back up by 15, 53-38 to start the fourth. Foul trouble started to catch up with the Monarchs as Buford picked up her fifth with 6:33 remaining. A 2-for-2 effort at the line by Clayton and a fast-break layup from Fields had the Monarchs with 11 at 55-44 with 4:33 left in the game, but ODU couldn’t get any closer. Brenda Fontana was playing with four fouls and Simone Cunningham also fouled out with 46 seconds left in the game.
Clayton led the team with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds to go with three steals while Buford turned in a 10-point effort and added six boards, four assists, and three steals to her totals. Fields followed with seven points, six rebounds, and two steals and Hill contributed six points and a couple steals.
Asked about Clayton’s effort, Milton-Jones said of her freshman forward, “She’s proving the point that she’s tough as nails and she’s going to come and compete. She doesn’t play like a freshman, she doesn’t walk around like a freshman, she doesn’t even talk like a freshman. She’s a seasoned vet with how she sees and plays the game. That type of intensity from her and production from her is going to warrant us giving her more playing time.”
The Monarchs were assessed 25 personal fouls on the night, compared to just 12 by Ball State. ODU scored more second-chance points (11-4), most fast-break points (12-9), and had more bench productivity (18-11), but Ball State scored 38 of its points in the paint and 21 off of 24 ODU turnovers.
Monday’s game marked the first-ever meeting between the two teams. ODU will host a MAC school in the second round of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 8. That opponent will be determined by the NET rankings in January.
Next up for ODU is a trip to Dallas, Texas at the end of the week to face the Mustangs of SMU. First tip from Moody Coliseum is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST on Saturday.
“It looked like there might have been some jitters attached to some of our play on the offensive end,” continued Milton-Jones. “People were a little tighter than I’m used to seeing them, but great game for us to have. We’ll take it back to the drawing board and clean some things up so we can get ready for SMU.”