Ball State women's basketball earns road victory

MUNCIE, Ind. — The Ball State women's basketball team took down a program in a similar situation to its own on Sunday, a great sign for an improving team as Mid-American Conference play nears.

Ball State's 86-83 victory at Western Kentucky on Saturday showcased the team's improvement throughout the non-conference slate. The Cardinals held off a late rally and won a game that featured 14 ties and 10 lead changes.

Western Kentucky is a very good program, with 22 or more wins in every season since 2012-13. The Hilltoppers (5-7) are in a rebuilding phase, just as the Cardinals (3-7), who had lost its last two games at E.A. Diddle Arena. 

Oshlynn Brown scored a career-high 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds. It was her seventh career double-double, Maliah Howard-Bass also had a strong scoring day with a season-high 17 points. Jasmin Samz added 12 points, while Thelma Dis Agustsdottir finished with 10.

Brown leads the Cardinals in scoring at 12.5 points per game and rebounding with 8.1 per contest. Samz is averaging 8.7 points, while Howard-Bass is at 8.1. Anna Clephane leads the six freshmen in scoring at 7.7.

Ball State has two games left before beginning MAC play: Friday against visiting Tennessee State and Dec. 30 against Urbana University (Ohio).

Ball State football

The Mid-American Conference announced its 2018 Academic All-MAC football team Monday, and 19 Ball State student-athletes were on the list, which was the second-most in the conference. Offensive lineman Danny Pinter, offensive lineman Zac Ricketts, tight end Kyle Schrank, defensive lineman Fred Schroeder and cornerback Marc Walton were selected to the Academic All-MAC team for a third time. Five other players made a return to this prestigious list for a second time – offensive lineman Chris Beech, wide receiver Riley Miller, quarterback Riley Neal, offensive lineman Andrew Poenitsch and offensive lineman Grant Williamson. Offensive lineman Curtis Blackwell, linebacker Brock Burns, safety Bryce Cosby, linebacker Jimmy Daw, long snapper Joseph Greenwood, wide receiver Trevor Hohlt, running back Will Jones, quarterback Drew Plitt and linebacker Jordan Williams made their debut on the Academic All-MAC team.

High school basketball

Luke Brown poured in 55 points on near flawless shooting in his only game of the week, and the Blackford sophomore headlines the recipients in this week’s IBCA/Subway Player of the Week program, which is coordinated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. Brown earned Player of the Week honors for the third time this season after the 6-1 guard scored 55 points with eight rebounds, six assists and six steals to lead the Blackford boys to a 98-34 victory over Elwood. For the game, he sank 21 of 25 field goals, 7 of 8 3-pointers and 6 of 6 free throws as the Bruins improved to 5-1. Brown previously collected POW laurels for the weeks of Nov. 19-24 and Nov. 26-Dec. 1.

Wrestling

Central defeated New Castle 57-12 on Saturday. The Bearcats got wins from Gage Cline (106), Westley Taylor (113), Wyatt Roysdon (126), Xavier Monroe (132), Da`Marion Walker (145), Cameron Maurer (182), David Wentz (195), Izaiah Dunn (220) and Daiveon Goodwin (285). The Trojans' victories came from Traye Owens (120), Tytus Ragle (152)

Ryan O’Gara covers Ball State and East Central Indiana high schools at the Star Press. Contact him at (765) 213-5829, rogara@muncie.gannett.com or @RyanOGara.