Box Score MUNCIE, Ind.- The Western Michigan women's basketball team suffered its first Mid-American Conference loss dropping a 54-36 decision at Ball State Saturday. The game was tied at halftime, but Ball State's defense kept WMU off balance in the second half and the Cardinals outscored WMU 33-15 in the final 20 minutes.

Western Michigan's record moves to 9-5 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. Ball State improved to 3-0 in the MAC and 7-7 overall.

“I have to give Ball State a lot of credit, their defense put us on our heels and we just never got any rhythm at all on offense. When we did get open looks we just could not hit a bucket when we needed it,” said WMU head coach Shane Clipfell.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle as the lead changed eight times and the scored was tied on seven occasions, including 21-21 at halftime. The Broncos struggled to get going in the second half however and Ball State went on an 19-5 run. With just under 10 minutes remaining, Ball State had developed a 14-point lead.

After shooting over 33 percent in the first half, WMU put down just 6 of its 29 (20.7%) field goal attempts in the second half. Ball State shot just 29.2 percent in the first half and warmed up to 48.0 percent in the second.

“Defensively we played well enough to win,” Clipfell said. “We played hard and we attacked the offensive glass a lot and had more than our normal share of second chance baskets but we still could not convert.”

Western Michigan had 10 more offensive rebounds than the Cardinals, pulling down 18 to Ball State's 8 and held the overall rebounding advantage, 44-37.

No Bronco reached double figures when it came to scoring, as WMU's top producers were held under their season averages. A.J. Johnson had a team-best nine points, followed by Miracle Woods, Alex Morton and Jessica Jessing with six points each. The latter trio entered the game averaging 31.5 points combined.

Woods led the rebounding effort with nine boards (four offensive) and was held to just five field goal attempts. Michelle O'Brien had seven rebounds and four points. Jessing also added six rebounds, as did Marquisha Harris (three points).

Shelbie Justice had a game-high 18 points for Ball State, followed by 12 points from Nathalie Fountaine.

Western Michigan is back in action Tuesday, traveling to Buffalo (8-6, 1-2 MAC) for a 7 p.m. matchup.

“We will be back in the gym tomorrow and get back to work for a very good Buffalo team with a short turnaround,” Clipfell said.