Ball State University Athletics
Balance Leads Women's Basketball to Victory
November 01, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Sophomore Julie DeMuth led a quartet of players who scored in double figures as Ball State opened its 2005-06 exhibition season with a 74-65 victory over the Ohio Legends Tuesday at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind. The Cardinals led 36-27 at halftime and then withstood a strong second-half performance by its opponent to preserve the win.
After BSU junior guard Kelsey Corbin opened the game with a layup 1:15 into the contest, the Legend went up with back-to-back buckets and then maintained the lead -- as high as six points twice -- for the next eight-plus minutes. Freshman Porchia Green's running layup at the 9:13 mark gave Ball State a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.
It was all Ball State for most of the second half as the Cardinals built an early double-digit advantage of 38-27 and then went up by as many as 15 points on four occasions. The Legend made its first run midway through the period with an 8-0 run that trimmed its deficit to just seven points -- 51-44 -- at the 11:35 mark. After BSU went up again by 10 -- 61-51 -- with 7:18 remaining, the Legend got within three points at 64-61 with 4:06 remaining. Corbin and sophomore Brandy Ross responded with back-to-back layups to give the Cardinals a 68-61 advantage. After Kelly Adams' layup put the Legend within four with 1:11 remaining, it was all DeMuth, who finished out the game with an old-fashioned three-point play followed by a layup with just 20 seconds on the clock to give BSU its final margin of victory.
Besides the 20-point effort of DeMuth, the backcourt tandem of Corbin and classmate Tina Bolte added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Corbin, who was 5-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe, dished off a game-high six assists. Junior Becca Bajorek was the final Cardinal in double digits with 10 points. She led the team with nine boards. DeMuth was second with eight. All 11 players who dressed (Raechelle Hampton and Erica Cotton both missed the contest due to injuries) scored for Ball State.
"I was pretty happy considering it was the first game of the year," BSU head coach Tracy Roller said. "Tina and Kelsey are money for us. Kelsey keeps us in control and composed from her point guard spot and that gives Tina more looks at the basket. Everyone had the opportunity to play tonight and that's what these games are for. I see our players really buying into the defensive philosophy and that is what ultimately won this game for us."
Ball State finished the contest with a 42-36 rebounding edge. The Cardinals held the Legend to just 38 percent (23-of-60) from the field, including a cool 27 percent from beyond the arc. BSU converted nearly 50 percent of its field goals (29-of-59), though just 19 percent (3-of-16) from 3-point range.
The Legends' Valerie King led all scorers with 24 points. Adams and D'wan Shackleford added 14 and 10 points, respectively
BSU plays its second and final exhibition game Sunday, Nov. 13 when it hosts the Hoosier Lady Stars.
