Ball State University Athletics
Cardinals Victorious in Home Opener
November 22, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Ball State opened the home portion of its 2005-06 women's basketball season with a 76-69 triumph over Evansville Tuesday at Worthen Arena. Four players scored in double figures for the Cardinals led by the 16-point career-high effort off the bench from Krista Stewart. A pair of freshmen -- Porchia Green and Kiley Jarrett -- also played key roles with Green accumulating 15 points and Jarrett dishing off a career and team season-high 11 assists to ignite BSU's offense.
The game was seesaw battle from the get-go. Ball State opened the contest on a layup by Green. Evansville answered with a 7-2 run in holding the advantage for a little more than a minute. Julie DeMuth's layup at the 15:53 mark gave BSU an 8-7 lead, which it would not relinquish the rest of the game. The Cardinals went up by as many as nine points with 9:48 left in the period, but back-to-back buckets by Sarah Hyslop and a pair of free throws by Megan Liffick put the Aces within three points at 21-18 with 8:29 left in the period. Ball State responded with a 9-2 run, including a 3-pointer and a pair of two-point goals by Krista Stewart -- thanks to two no-look passes from Jarrett -- to go back up 30-20 with 4:16 on the clock.
Evansville got back within four points -- 32-28 -- at the 1:51 mark, but free throws by Stewart and Brandy Ross plus a jumper by Stewart gave the Cardinals a 36-29 lead at the halfway mark. Over the first 20 minutes, Ball State converted 45 percent (14-of-31) percent of its field goals compared to just 32 (10-of-31) percent for its guests.
The second half was as tightly contested as the first half as Evansville got within two points early and then again on a layup by Hyslop at the 13:41 mark to cut its deficit to 44-42. After the teams traded baskets for the next couple of minutes, BSU built a seven-point advantage, which was short-lived after Liffick canned a three to get her team within four points at 56-52 with 7:49 remaining. After the Cardinals went up by nine points -- 63-54 -- on Green's layup at the 6:02 mark, Evansville made its final run to get within five points on a 3-pointer by Liffick with 4:30 left. From there, the Aces went cold and Ball State took advantage of four UE turnovers to put the game out of reach.
"Tricia Cullop and her staff did a tremendous job of scouting our team," BSU head coach Tracy Roller said. "They were ready for us and extremely versed on all of our players. I think the difference for us was putting Krista Stewart in the ‘4' spot, because that was something they weren't prepared for.
"Porchia and Kiley showed a ton of poise tonight -- especially when the game was so tight in the second half. I was in awe of some of Kiley's passes and Porchia is just a very tough matchup.
"With as young as our team is, I am really, really proud of their performance tonight. We had several players step up and contribute and that's what won the game."
In addition to Stewart's 16 points and Green's 15 scores, Corbin added 14 points and DeMuth chipped in with 11. DeMuth also led BSU on the boards with eight, while Corbin was second with six. Jarrett's 11 assists were a game-high as were Green's five steals. BSU shots 49 percent (28-of-57) from the floor and totalled 15 steals.
Evansville's Hyslop led all scorers with 19 points. Rebekah Parker added 17, while Liffick and Courtney Felke added 11 and 10 apiece. Liffick and Hyslop pulled down 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, as the Aces posted a 45-34 advantage in that category. UE was held to a 38.5 (25-of-65) field goal percentage.
Ball State, 2-0, remains at home this weekend when it hosts the Ball State Credit Union Classic Saturday and Sunday. The Cardinals face Lipscomb Saturday at 3 p.m., following a North Dakota State-Georgetown matchup in the opener.
