Ball State University Athletics
Women's Hoops Entertain Evansville Tuesday
November 21, 2005 | Women's Basketball
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE:
Arena (Seating Capacity) Worthen Arena (11,500)
Tip-off 7 p.m.
Television none
Webcast WCRD FM 91.3 and WXFN 1340 AM
Series Evansville leads 3-2
RADIO COVERAGE: The Ball State - Evansville game will be broadcast live by WCRD FM 91.3 . . . BSU's student-run station will carry 26 regular-season games plus all postseason competition . . . Sports director Nathan Rausch is in his second full season as a part of the broadcast team and will handle play-by-play duties this year . . . Joel Nickels will provide color commentary, while Kyle Trompeter will do sideline reporting . . . The WCRD broadcasts can be heard via the internet at the official web site of Ball State athletics: www.ballstatesports.com.
MORE RADIO: Besides the 26-game WCRD package, Ball State will have 15 regular-season games carried by Muncie's WXFN 1340 AM, including the Evansville contest . . . All tournament games will also be carried by the station . . . Kevin Lee will do play-by-play for this game . . . He is in his fifth season as part of the team . . . Jay Garrison, who is in his fourth season, will provide the color commentary against Evansville . . . When scheduled, the WXFN broadcasts can be heard via the internet at www.ballstatesports.com or www.yahoo.com.
SPECIAL PROMOTION: The Ball State athletics department has joined BSU's student-run radio station WCRD in a special drive to collect items at Tuesday's game for the disaster victims affected by recent tornadoes in Evansville and the surrounding area . . . Donations will be accepted at the game at Gate One of Worthen Arena . . . Anyone who donates an item will receive free admission into the contest . . . Items in need include canned food, clothing and miscellaneous types of items.
SCOUTING BALL STATE: Ball State opened its season with a 90-72 victory at Murray State Saturday evening . . . Tina Bolte led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc . . . Julie DeMuth was second with 21 points, including 4-of-6 3-pointers . . . Kelsey Corbin notched the second double-digit assist mark of her career with 10 . . . Raechelle Hampton had seven rebounds . . . Bolte nailed the first of her 3-pointers 30 seconds into the contest and the Cardinals never trailed, building leads as high as 26 points . . . BSU shot 45 percent (32-of-71) from the floor, including 11-of-22 from trey range.
INJURY UPDATE: Junior center Becca Bajorek is out indefinitely due to a hip injury . . . She did not travel to Murray State.
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE: Evansville opened its season with back-to-back losses last weekend -- 54-46 at home versus Marquette Friday and then 73-65 on the road at Tennessee Tech Sunday . . . Megan Liffick, an honorable mention all-conference selection last year, tops the team with her 14.5 scoring average . . . Courtney Felke is second with 11.0 points per game . . . Sarah Hyslop's 6.5 rebounding average is first . . . UE was 17-11 last season and returns nine letterwinners, including three starters from that team.
BALL STATE VS. EVANSVILLE: Ball State and Evansville have met just five times with the Aces owning a 3-2 edge . . . The series originated with a 62-58 BSU win Dec. 1, 1984, in Peoria, Ill. . . . After the Cardinals won again in the second meeting, Evansville has been victorious the past three matchups, including 84-73 Dec. 12, 2004 . . . In that game, the Aces overcame a one-point halftime deficit to score the victory and spoil the homecoming of former BSU standout Kate Endress, playing at home the only time in her career . . . Six UE players scored in double digits, led by the 18-point effort of Megan Liffick . . . Rebekah Parker added 17 points . . . Liffick had a team-high eight boards . . . Endress led all scorers with 21 points . . . Tina Bolte chipped in 17 for the Cardinals, who were paced on the board by Becca Bajorek's eight.
THE 2005-06 CARDINALS: The Cardinals return nine letterwinners and add four newcomers to this year's squad, whose immediate task will be filling the void created by the graduation of 2005 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Kate Endress . . . Five of the nine returnees have starting experience . . . Heading the list is junior guard Tina Bolte, who is the leading returning scorer after averaging 11.2 points per game a year ago . . . Bolte and junior guard Kelsey Corbin started all 29 games last season . . . Corbin brings back an 8.3 scoring average and 4.6 rebounding mark from last season . . . Sophomore guard Julie DeMuth returns after a stellar campaign, which concluded with her being named to the MAC All-Freshman Team . . . DeMuth topped the team last season with 7.2 rebounds per game, while adding 7.4 points each outing . . . Senior Raechelle Hampton and junior Becca Bajorek are both back with starting experience in the post position . . . Hampton started 24 games and averaged 7.0 points and 4.8 rebounds last year . . . Bajorek was a starter in 17 contests . . . She averaged 6.4 points and 4.8 rebounds . . . The list of returning players is rounded out by seniors Krista Stewart and Erica Cotton -- both juniors eligibility-wise, plus sophomores Brandy Ross and Lisa Rusche.
A QUARTET OF NEWCOMERS: Four newcomers join Ball State's 2005-06 roster . . . Junior guard Stephanie Douglas comes to BSU after playing last season at Meridian Community College, where she averaged 16 points, six rebounds and two assists per game . . . Freshman guards Porchia Green and Kiley Jarrett both ended their prep careers as Indiana High School All-Stars . . . Freshman guard Dana Moorman rounds out the list of newcomers.
BSU CAPTAINS: Juniors Tina Bolte and Kelsey Corbin plus sophomore Julie DeMuth will serve as tri-captains of the 2005-06 squad . . . Corbin is in her second season as a captain for the Cardinals . . . All three players were regular starters on last season's team, which posted a 16-13 overall mark and an 11-5 MAC slate.
BALANCED BALL STATE: All 12 players who dressed saw action at Murray State and all 12 contributed something in the stats column . . . Tina Bolte and Julie DeMuth topped the team in scoring with 27 and 21 points, respectively, while Kelsey Corbin chipped in with nine plus added the second double-digit assist total of her career with 10 . . . Raechelle Hampton was first on the boards with seven . . . DeMuth and Porchia Green tied for second with six boards apiece.
IMPRESSIVE DEBUTS: Ball State's four newcomers on the 2005-06 team all saw action at Murray State . . . Freshman Porchia Green made her collegiate debut in the starting lineup, where she responded with six points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one blocked shot in 25 minutes of action . . . Junior transfer Stephanie Douglas came off the bench and scored seven points -- one two-point jumper, two free throws and a long bomb -- in a 1:09 span in the first half . . . She added four rebounds and an assist on the night . . . Freshman Kiley Jarrett totaled three points, three rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes . . . Freshman Dana Moorman pulled down one rebound in the contest.
LINE PERFECTION: Tina Bolte picked up where she left off last season from the free throw line -- perfect . . . At Murray State, she converted 4-of-4 tries, giving her 19 perfect games from the line in her career . . . Last season, she was perfect in 13 contests, including a career-high 8-of-8 twice . . . As a freshman, she totaled five perfect games from the line . . . One year ago, Bolte had a streak of 28 consecutive free throws without a miss before finishing the year ranked No. 1 in the MAC in free throw percentage.
BALL STATE IN SEASON HOME OPENERS: Ball State is 16-15 in season home openers, including 7-3 over the past 10 campaigns . . . Under head coach Tracy Roller, the Cardinals have posted a 3-1 record in season-opening contests . . . Tuesday's matchup against Evansville marks the earliest the Cardinals have played at home since launching the 2001-02 season with an 89-54 win over Wright State Nov. 16.
WONDERFUL WORTHEN: Ball State is 43-15 in home games over the last five campaigns for a .741 rate of success . . . BSU finished with an 8-5 mark (.615) in home games in 2004-05 after a 6-5 slate during the 2003-04 season . . . BSU posted a 7-2 (.778) record at Worthen Arena in 2002-03, dropping two games by a combined total of nine points -- 68-64 to Eastern Michigan March 2 and 78-73 to Toledo Feb. 11 . . . With its first-round WNIT victory over Louisville March 13, 2002, Ball State finished with a program record 13-1 mark at Worthen Arena in 2001-02 . . . The previous best home record was the 2000-01 team's 9-2 ledger.
HEAD COACH TRACY ROLLER: Tracy Roller is in her fifth year as head coach of Ball State's women's basketball program . . . She spent two years as assistant coach before taking over the head spot prior to the 2000-01 season . . . Roller is the winningest coach in the program's history with her 75-47 overall record for a .615 rate of success . . . The 2002 MAC Coach of the Year, Roller has led BSU to a 43-21 league ledger, two runner-up finishes in the Mid-Am Tournament and two appearances in the postseason WNIT.
REMAINING COACHING STAFF: An original member of Tracy Roller's staff, Lisa McDonald returns for her fifth season at BSU -- this year in her newly minted position of associate head coach . . . Jeanette Gray is back for her third season . . . Mike Geary joins the staff this year as an assistant after 17 years as head coach at Northern Michigan University . . . Monique Govan is in her first season as director of basketball operations.
SCHEDULE CHANGE: Ball State's Jan. 31 game at Ohio has been moved back to an 8 p.m. starting time to accommodate television . . . The game will be broadcast by Fox Sports Net Ohio.
HOME GROWN: Ball State's 2005-06 roster boasts five players from the state of Indiana -- juniors Tina Bolte (Columbus) and Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne), sophomore Julie DeMuth (Merrillville) and freshmen Porchia Green (Indianapolis) and Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington) . . . Bolte, Corbin and DeMuth were all fulltime starters last season.
THROUGH MICHIGAN AND OHIO: If not from Indiana, you should look at Detroit, Mich., to find the homes of four more Cardinals -- juniors Erica Cotton, Stephanie Douglas and Raechelle Hampton plus sophomore Brandy Ross . . . Three more hail from the state of Ohio -- junior Becca Bajorek (Columbus), sophomore Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati) and freshman Dana Moorman (Dayton).
LAST SEASON: Ball State concluded the 2004-05 campaign with a 16-13 overall record and an 11-5 Mid-American Conference mark . . . The Cardinals tied for second place in the West Division and earned the No. 5 seed in the MAC Tournament . . . The fifth-seeded Cardinals hosted 12th-seeded Akron in the first round and posted a 77-52 victory . . . In quarterfinal action at Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, BSU's season was ended with a 72-64 loss at the hands of fourth-seeded Eastern Michigan.
FORMIDABLE FOE: When Ball State travels to Duke Dec. 19, it will be taking on a Blue Devils squad that is picked No. 1 in The Associated Press Preseason Poll and No. 2 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Poll . . . Duke finished last season with a 31-5 overall record and ranked 7/8, respectively, in the final polls . . . When the Blue Devils visited Muncie Dec. 20, 2004, they were the third-ranked team in the nation.
TV TIME: Ball State is scheduled to have two games aired by the Ball State Sports Network -- Jan. 18 vs. Eastern Michigan and Feb. 4 against Buffalo . . . In addition, the Cardinals will appear on FSN Ohio Jan. 31 at Ohio and on Comcast Local Feb. 28 versus Northern Illinois.
IT'S ACADEMIC: The spring 2005 grading period marked the fourth-straight semester the Ball State women's basketball team has combined for a better than 3.00 grade-point average . . . The 11-member squad tallied a 3.10 GPA for the 2005 spring semester, a 3.02 for the 2004 fall semester, a 3.18 GPA for the 2004 spring semester and a 3.30 GPA for the 2003 fall semester . . . The 2004-05 team boasted an overall cumulative GPA of 3.17 with eight members netting 3.0 or higher marks . . . Kate Endress topped the team with a 3.96 GPA after posting a perfect 4.0 mark her final two semesters . . . Kelsey Corbin was second with a 3.67, followed by Tina Bolte at 3.37, Becca Bajorek at 3.36, Julie DeMuth at 3.30, Lisa Rusche at 3.20, Brandy Ross at 3.16 and Raechelle Hampton at 3.10.
THREE SIGN EARLY: Head coach Tracy Roller inked three players during the early signing period -- Indiana guards Kyleigh Jones (Elwood, Ind./Elwood H.S.) and Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) plus post player Kalynne Proctor (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Regina H.S.) . . . Jones and McDonald are both Super Senior 25 preseason picks by Regional Roundball.
