Butler and Youngstown State were both winners over Mid-American Conference teams Friday night as Butler took down in-state foe Ball State and Youngstown State went on the road to defeat Ohio.
Butler 55, Ball State 43
The Bulldogs spotted Ball State an early 5-0 lead on Friday night, but Butler answered with an 11-0 run to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Senior Devin Brierly led the Bulldogs in scoring with a career-high 22 points, shooting 7-for-12 from the field and 7-for-9 at the free throw line.
Freshman Haley Howard added 15 points for the Bulldogs, shooting 5-for-9 and making all four of her free throws. She has now made all 21 of her foul shots this season, leading the Horizon League.
The Bulldogs limited the Cardinals to .292 shooting and forced 27 Ball State turnovers
After overcoming the early five-point deficit, BU maintained a two or three possession lead the entire half en route to a 25-17 lead at halftime. BU led 40-28 with 9:42 to play before the Cardinals cut the Dawgs' lead to 45-39. Leading 47-41, Butler pulled away with an 8-0 run to lead in the final minute 55-41, the largest lead of the night.
Butler had a 22-8 scoring advantage in the paint and 21 points off turnovers. The Bulldogs also out-rebounded Ball State 36-30.
The Bulldogs return to action Saturday, Dec. 17 when they host Marian at Hinkle Fieldhouse with tipoff scheduled for 11 a.m. ET.
Youngstown State 55, Ohio 47
Youngstown State went on a 20-5 run early in the second half and hung on to defeat Ohio 55-47 on Friday evening at the Bobcats’ Convocation Center. YSU has now won four straight road games for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
The Penguins hit 10 of their first 13 shots in the second half and outshot the Bobcats 43.5 percent to 31.1 percent in the game.
YSU's Heidi Schlegel scored a game-high 21 points, connecting on three triples. Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Brandi Brown was held to eight points, ending a stretch of 29 straight games with at least 10 points.
Youngstown State built a 24-22 lead at halftime, and the Penguins took a 44-29 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Schlegel. Macey Nortey then hit a lay-up to make the score 46-32 with 10:51 left, but YSU cooled down and had to rely on its defense for the rest of the period.
Ohio scored the next seven points to cut the margin to 46-39 on Tenishia Benson's back-door basket with 8:19 left. Schlegel ended a four-and-a-half minute scoring drought for YSU with two free-throws at the 6:20 mark, and Ohio's first points in four minutes made the score 48-42.
Ohio's Porsha Harris scored off of a turnover to make the score 48-44 with 3:30 remaining, but the Bobcats didn't score again for nearly two minutes. By then, two free throws from Schlegel, a 3-pointer from Kenya Middlebrooks and a free throw from Nortey gave the Penguins a 54-44 lead. Middlebrooks' 3-pointer with 2:17 left was YSU's first field goal since it started the half 10-for-13.
Youngstown State is back in action next Sunday at Akron. Tipoff against the Zips is set for 2 p.m.
