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Sports TwitterMIAMI WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Miami women overwhelm Ball St.
Jackson, Schone lead RedHawks to 69-58 MAC victory.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
OXFORD — The Miami University women's basketball team lay in ambush for Ball State on Wednesday night. The Cardinals never knew what hit them.
Miami overwhelmed Ball State with defense, coming up with nine blocked shots, nine steals and 21 points off turnovers as the RedHawks rolled to a 69-58 victory at Millett Hall.
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The game wasn't nearly that close. Midway through the first half Miami led 29-9 and the Cardinals never were able to get the deficit under 11, though they did score the last six points in the final minute.
"We wanted Ball State to come into Millett feeling like we were coming after them aggressively," said Miami coach Maria Fantanarosa, whose team won its fourth straight to remain tied for first in the Mid-American Conference East Division at 7-3, 15-9 overall.
"They weren't able to execute their offense, which put them back on their heels initially," she added.
Ball State missed its first eight field goal attempts. When the score was 29-9, the Cardinals were 3-of-20 from the floor.
"I was focusing on the defensive end and the offense just came to me," said Miami senior Amanda Jackson, who scored 25 points and also had five assists after having struggled in her previous game, when she made only 4-of-22 shots.
Jenna Schone added 19 points, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the 3-point arc, and also had five assists and, like Jackson and her teammates, played aggressive defense.
"Jenna always does," Fantanarosa said. "I have to remind her daily that she's a great scorer."
Laura Markwood chipped in with 12 rebounds and three steals for the RedHawks, Stephanie Ford had 10 rebounds and four blocks, and Ashley Hawkins finished with three assists, two blocks and two steals.
"We're getting better with each game," Fantanarosa said. "I'm excited about the win, but even more excited that our team has remained focused on one game at a time, one possession at a time."
Ball State (10-13, 6-4 MAC), which would have remained in a first-place tie in the MAC West with a victory, was led by Porchia Green with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Miami will play at Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 16.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
