TOLEDO, OH – Toledo suffered a 68-58 setback to Ball State on Saturday in its regular-season finale before 4,267 fans in Savage Arena. With the loss, the Rockets fall to 17-12 overall, 12-6 in the Mid-American Conference.

UT will now be the No. 4 seed in next week's MAC Tournament and play the winner of No. 5 seed Akron (17-12, 11-7 MAC) and No. 12 seed Miami (9-20, 3-15 MAC) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 9 at approximately 2:30 p.m. in Quicken Loans Arena.

Senior Brenae Harris paced Toledo with a contest-tying best 22 points on 'Senior Day' against the  Cardinals (21-8, 13-5 MAC), followed by sophomore Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott with 12 points and a career-tying high eight boards.

The Rockets were limited to 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field, including 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from three-point range, and 80.0 percent (12-of-15) from the charity stripe to drop their fifth-straight match-up in the series.

Nathalie Fontaine led BSU with a game-tying high 22 points and a contest-best 14 caroms, while Renee Bennett and Carmen Grande chipped in 15 and 14 points, respectively.

The Cardinals won today's division showdown on the interior, finishing with a 32-20 edge in points in the paint and a 40-32 advantage on the boards.
   
BSU benefited from eight early points by Grande to jump out to a 10-6 lead at the 2:54 mark. The first-year guard knocked down a pair of treys and a layup in a span of less than two minutes to give the visitors an advantage they would not relinquish.

UT freshman Kaayla McIntyre halted Ball State's momentum for a bit with six-straight points to trim the deficit to 14-10 after the first period. The Toledo native was credited with three short field goals to make it a four-point difference following the opening 10 minutes.

The Cardinals extended the margin to double figures, 27-14, midway through the second period on the strength of a pair of field goals from Moriah Monaco with 5:12 remaining before halftime. Monaco converted a triple from the wing and another long jumper to force the Rockets to call a timeout.

Toledo's deficit remained at least 12 points for the remainder of the half, as the Midnight Blue & Gold trailed 35-23 at the break. The Rockets were limited to 30.0 percent (9-of-30) from the floor, including 12.5 percent (1-of-8) from three-point range, in the first 20 minutes.

BSU's Fontaine took the game over to start the third quarter, draining three shots from the perimeter to push the margin to a game-high 16 points, 44-28, at the 5:15 mark. The MAC Player of the Year candidate was dominant in the opening spurt after the intermission.
 
UT dug deep in the waning moments of the third period and rattled off nine of the final 11 points to set the score at 47-38. Four different Rockets tallied points in the span of the final two-plus minutes to ignite the crowd.

Toledo continued to chip away to start the fourth period, taking advantage of six points from Harris to make it a three-possession affair, 51-46, at the 7:03 mark. The all-league candidate converted a pair of layups and two free throws to keep the home team's hopes alive.
    
Unfortunately for the Rockets, BSU's Fontaine retaliated with points on three-consecutive possessions to push the lead back to nine points, 59-50, with 3:52 left in regulation. 

The closest UT would get in the waning moments was five points, 63-58, with 38.8 seconds left after a three-point field goal by senior Ana Capotosto. 

Ball State then put the finishing touches on the road triumph at the free throw line, hitting five of six attempts to make the final score 68-58.