Feb. 3, 2010

Final Stats

OXFORD, Ohio – A dominating second half effort helped lead Miami to a 69-54 victory over Ball State Wednesday night. Maggie Boyer continued her strong run as of late, leading the RedHawks with 23 points. Miami improves to 6-16 overall and 4-5 in the Mid-American Conference. The Cardinals fall to 9-13 overall and 3-6 in the MAC.

The RedHawks’ shots were not falling early in the first half, but they stayed in it by going a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in the first five minutes. With the score tied at 10, Ball State went on an 8-0 run to take an 18-10 lead with 11:20 remaining. Boyer, Courtney Osborn, Courtney Reed and Rachael Hencke each responded with jumpers to help pull Miami within two at 26-24, but the Cardinals scored five straight points to push the lead back to seven. Boyer than closed the half with two three-point baskets, including one at the buzzer to send the teams into the break tied at 33.

After Kirsten Olowinski hit a bucket to give Miami the lead to open the second half, a 6-0 run by Ball State gave the Cardinals a 39-35 lead with 18:05 remaining in the game. From there the RedHawks defense took over, holding Ball State to only nine points over the next 13 minutes. During that stretch Osborn and Boyer each hit a couple jumpers and a three-pointer, while Osborn also found Lillian Pitts in the paint for a couple of easy layups. In the end it was a 26-9 run that gave Miami a 61-48 lead with 5:13 to go. The RedHawks followed that up by hitting their free throws down the stretch and Boyer closed out the scoring with one last jumper to give Miami the 69-54 victory.

In addition to Boyer’s 23 points, Osborn finished with 19 and Hencke contributed 11. The RedHawks shot 35.5 percent for the game (22-for-62), but were helped by hitting seven three-pointers. Defensively, Miami forced Ball State into 25 turnovers, 16 of which were in the second half. The teams were even with 40 rebounds apiece.

The RedHawks conclude this two-game homestand with a match against Western Michigan on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article