KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan overcame an 18-point first-half deficit, rolling Ball State in the second on its way to 76-64 victory Sunday at University Arena. The Broncos, who defeated last year's regular season and defending WNIT champion Toledo (70-67) Thursday, are off to their first 2-0 start in Mid-American Conference play since the 2003-04 season and sit atop the MAC West as the division's only unbeaten team in league play. WMU also extended its home conference winning streak to six games.
Western Michigan fell behind, 21-3, in the first 10 minutes and outscored the Cardinals by 30 the rest of the game, including 47-28 in the second half. The team started off the game making just one of its first 10 shots, but once they started falling, it was almost as though the Broncos couldn't miss.
After Ball State scored the first five points of the game, freshman Julia Henson put the Broncos on the scoreboard with a three-pointer at 16:32. WMU came up empty on its next nine possessions, going 0-5 from the floor and committing four turnovers. Michelle O'Brien hit a pair of free throws, but WMU did not make another shot from the floor until Corie Buchanan broke the Broncos' six-minute drought with a jumper at 10:23. BSU meanwhile rattled off 16-straight points.
Buchanan's bucket sparked the offense and WMU worked on shrinking the deficit before the half. Henson knocked down her second triple of the game at the halftime buzzer and the Broncos headed to the locker room down seven, 36-29.
Western Michigan carried its momentum into the second half, tying the game three-and-a half minutes in, Henson again dialed in from long range to knot the count at 39-39. She hit her fourth three of the afternoon three minutes later to give WMU its first lead, 46-44. That ignited a 19-9 Bronco run and Western Michigan built an 11-point advantage by the 8:09 mark. Buchanan was busy during that stretch, scoring nine of her team's final 11 points in the run.
Ball State hung around, trailing by six with 7:28 left, but the next two Bronco scores were particularly deflating for its opponent. Aurielle Anderson drove the lane and missed, but came up with a put back at 7:12. With the shot clock winding down and WMU scrambling to maintain possession, Buchanan cashed a three-pointer from the edge of the center circle to push the Broncos' lead back to double digits with 5:40 remaining. From there, Western Michigan remained in steady control and closed out a 12-point victory.
After dropping nine-straight in the series, Western Michigan has won its last two meetings against Ball State, also beating the Cardinals in Kalamazoo at the end of last year's regular season. The Broncos closed out 2011 winning its last four home conference games, and with wins over Toledo and Ball State to start 2012, have stretched their home MAC winning streak to six.
Buchanan led the game with 19 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs, for her second career double-double. Maria Iaquaniello went off for 14 points in the second half, on her way to 18 for the game. Henson checked out 4-for-8 from downtown for a personal best 12 points.
The Broncos had their best half of shooting this season in the second, knocking down nearly 60 percent of its shots and finished the game hitting 44.4 percent from the floor. WMU also went 19-for-22 at the free throw line, which was the second most free throws made for the team this season. The Broncos outscored Ball State in the paint, 26-14, and 16-5 on the break.
Western Michigan (5-10, 2-0) will have its first conference road tests later this week, traveling to Central Michigan (9-7, 1-1 MAC) Wednesday and Eastern Michigan (9-6, 1-1 MAC) Saturday. The Chippewas lost at Toledo Sunday, while EMU defeated Northern Illinois at home.
GAME NOTES: WMU made a season-high nine three pointers ... Henson has made four three-pointers in three games this season and leads the team with 27 ... WMU field goal percentage (44.4) was its second highest behind UTA contest (46.2) ... 47 points second highest scored by WMU in second half this season (49 at American) ... sophomore post Rachel Adaline did not dree for second-straight game with concussion-like symptoms ... sophomore post Andrea Kras is no longer with the program.
