Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts State Farm Classic Sunday
December 02, 2005 | Women's Basketball
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE:
Arena (Seating Capacity) Worthen Arena (11,500)
Tip-off 4:30 p.m.
Television none
Webcast WCRD FM 91.3 and WXFN 1340 AM
Series BSU leads 5-3
RADIO COVERAGE: The BSU-Valparaiso contest 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 Valparaiso 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 Valpo . . . When scheduled, the WXFN broadcasts can be heard via the internet at www.ballstatesports.com or www.yahoo.com.
BALL STATE PROBABLE STARTERS:
1 Tina Bolte G 5-7 Jr./Jr. 11.0 ppg 2.2 rpg 1.4 apg 25.4 mpg
11 Kelsey Corbin G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 8.8 ppg 4.4 rpg 5.4 apg 26.6 mpg
13 Raechelle Hampton C 6-2 Sr./Sr. 8.6 ppg 5.2 rpg 1.2 spg 25.2 mpg
35 Krista Stewart C 6-1 Sr./Jr. 12.2 ppg 2.4 rpg 1.8 spg 22.4 mpg
14 Julie DeMuth G 5-10 So./So. 14.4 ppg 10.0 rpg 2.2 spg 25.6 mpg
OFF THE BENCH:
2 Stephanie Douglas G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 5.0 ppg 1.7 rpg 0.5 spg 8.0 mpg
3 Porchia Green G 5-8 Fr./Fr. 10.5 ppg 4.5 rpg 3.5 spg 26.5 mpg
12 Kiley Jarrett G 5-4 Fr./Fr. 4.0 ppg 2.0 rpg 4.2 apg 20.8 mpg
23 Erica Cotton G 5-8 Sr./Jr. 3.4 ppg 1.8 rpg 1.4 apg 12.6 mpg
25 Dana Moorman F 6-0 Fr./Fr. 0.8 ppg 1.0 rpg 0.0 apg 5.3 mpg
42 Lisa Rusche F 6-1 So./So. 4.0 ppg 2.6 rpg 0.6 spg 13.2 mpg
44 Brandy Ross F 6-1 So./So. 2.0 ppg 2.7 rpg 0.5 apg 10.8 mpg
52 Becca Bajorek C 6-2 Jr./Jr. 0.0 ppg 0.0 rpg 0.0 bpg 0.0 mpg
SCOUTING BALL STATE: Ball State improved to 5-0 with its 65-61 win over Illinois State Wednesday in Muncie . . . The 5-0 mark constitutes the best start in school history . . . Three players are averaging double-digit scoring totals for the Cardinals led by the 14.4 average of Julie DeMuth . . . Krista Stewart is second with 12.2 points per game, while Tina Bolte checks in at third with her 11.0 average . . . DeMuth owns a team-leading 10.0 rebounding average, while Kelsey Corbin is tops with her 5.4 assists-per-game pace . . . BSU is averaging 75.8 points and 40.6 rebounds, while yielding 61.8 points and 39.8 rebounds to its opponents . . . The Cardinals force 21 turnovers a game, while averaging 12 steals and 17 assists.
INJURY UPDATE: Junior center Becca Bajorek is out indefinitely due to a hip injury . . . She has not played this season . . . Freshman guard Porchia Green has missed three straight games . . . Her status is day-to-day . . . She averaged 10.5 points per game before her injury.
SCOUTING VALPARAISO: Valparaiso is 3-2 with wins over Northern Iowa (62-48), Kent State (66-62 in ot) and Northwestern (57-51) . . . Its losses have come at the hands of Bradley (79-71 in double ot) and Xavier (58-44) . . . Betsy Rietema leads a trio of Crusaders who average double-digit scoring marks at 15 points per game . . . Carrie Myers is second with her 13.8 average, while Tamra Braun checks in at third with 11 points a game . . . Braun owns a team-best 9.6 rebounding average . . . Valpo averaged 60 points and 35 rebounds a game, while surrendering 59.6 points and 39.4 rebounds to its opponents.
BALL STATE VS. VALPO: Ball State and Valparaiso have met eight times with the Cardinals victorious in each of the first five outings, including the initial matchup -- 90-40 Jan. 24, 1975, in Muncie . . . The Crusaders have been victorious in the past three meetings -- including a 77-69 victory in the second round of the postseason WNIT March 16, 2002, in Muncie and 88-82 in the last meeting between the teams during the 2002-03 season.
LAST MEETING: Valparaiso slipped by Ball State 88-82 in the last meeting between the teams -- Dec. 7, 2002, at the State Farm Classic in Indianapolis . . . Dana Collins led the Cardinals with 23 points, while Tamara Bowie and Kate Endress chipped in with 19 and 18 points, respectively . . . Valpo's Suzie Hammel led all scorers with her 24 points . . . Jeanette Gray was second with 18 and Jamie Gutowski third with 13 . . . Bowie and Jessi Reiter had nine rebounds apiece as BSU posted a 35-33 advantage on the boards.
PERSONAL STORY LINES: When Valpo and Ball State match up Saturday, there will be plenty of story lines surrounding the game . . . Current BSU assistant coach Jeanette Gray is a Valparaiso native and a four-year letterwinner for the Crusaders' basketball program . . . She was a two-time all-league selection as a member of Valpo's team and was recruited to the school by her current boss -- BSU head coach Tracy Roller, who served as an assistant coach there for three seasons before she came to the Cardinals . . . Gray had a hand in each of Valpo's past two wins over BSU, including her 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the last meeting during the 2002-3 season . . . Valparaiso Director of Basketball Operations Renee Turpa is a 1979 graduate of Ball State . . . The Cardinals' largest amount of victory ever in a season-opening game was a 56-point drubbing of Valparaiso to inaugurate the 1976-77 season . . . Valparaiso is the team that ended the most successful season in BSU women's basketball history with its 77-69 victory in the second round of the WNIT March 16, 2002 . . . The Cardinals ended the year with a school-record 24-8 overall victory.
BSU CAPTAINS: Juniors Tina Bolte and Kelsey Corbin plus sophomore Julie DeMuth are 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.
SCHOOL RECORD START: Ball State's 5-0 start is the best in school history . . . The five wins surpasses the 4-0 start of Brenda (Oldfield) Frese's 1999-2000 team . . . Four of the wins have come in the friendly confines of Worthen Arena, where BSU wraps up a rare five-game non-conference home stand against Valparaiso Sunday.
JARRETT EARNS HONOR: Ball State freshman Kiley Jarrett will be recognized prior to the start of Sunday's game as the Hoosier Basketball Magazine's 2005 Mini Miss Basketball . . . She averaged 13 points and 2.5 assists per game last season in earning a spot on the Indiana North/South All-Star Team . . . Jarrett joins teammate Tina Bolte, who earned the Mini Miss Basketball honor in 2003 and former BSU players Dana Collins (2002), Johna Goff (2000) and Michelle Baker (1987) -- all recipients of the award.
BSU CAPTURES CLASSIC: The Cardinals captured the championship of the first-ever Ball State Credit Union Classic last weekend . . . BSU trounced Lipscomb 83-53 in the semifinals and then defeated North Dakota State 65-54 to win the title . . . The Cardinals averaged 74 points, 43 rebounds and 13 steals a game, while holding their opponents to 53.5 points, 35 rebounds and a cool .352 (38-of-108) field goal percentage . . . BSU also forced its two opponents into 47 turnovers . . . Julie DeMuth was selected as the classic's Most Valuable Player, while Krista Stewart and Kelsey Corbin were named to the all-tournament team . . . With its championship in the Classic, the Cardinals have captured non-conference tournament titles in each of the past four seasons -- all under head coach Tracy Roller and are 11-5 record in non-conference tournament competition.
BALANCED BALL STATE: Ball State has had at least three players score in double figures in four games thus far . . . Four players reached double digits against Evansville and five hit the plateau against North Dakota State -- Krista Stewart, Kiley Jarrett, Julie DeMuth, Kelsey Corbin and Raechelle Hampton . . . All 11 players who dressed against Lipscomb scored at least three points.
STEADY STEW: Senior Krista Stewart is having a career year . . . Over Ball State's five games this season, she is second on the team with a 12.2 scoring average and has led the team in scoring in 3-of-5 games . . . In the Credit Union Classic, Stewart averaged 17.5 points per game and landed a spot on the all-tournament team . . . In her first collegiate start against Lipscomb last Saturday, she tallied a career-high 20 points to lead all scorers . . . She was 8-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc vs. the Lady Bisons . . . She added 15 points against NDSU.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Sophomore Julie DeMuth is leading Ball State for the second-straight year in rebounding . . . She is averaging 10.0 per game and has led BSU in rebounding four times this season . . . DeMuth also tops BSU with 2.2 steals per game . . . She has posted her second-straight double-double and the fifth of her career with 19 points and 14 rebounds versus Illinois State Wednesday . . . She had 11 points and 13 rebounds vs. North Dakota State Sunday . . . The 14 boards against ISU gave her 10 double-digit rebounding marks in her career . . . Over the two-game span last weekend, DeMuth averaged 10.5 points, 11 rebounds and four steals on the way to earning Most Valuable Player honors . . . DeMuth has scored in double figures in all five of BSU's game this season, topping the team once in that category.
ROOKIE RUMBLINGS: Ball State's newcomers continue to put up impressive stats . . . Last week against Evansville, freshman Porchia Green made her second start and bettered six career marks, including points, steals and assists with 15, five and four, respectively . . . Classmate Kiley Jarrett also led the team with a career-high 11 assists . . . Jarrett had a team-high six assists vs. Lipscomb and then scored a career-best 13 points on a 5-of-7 performance, including 3-of-4 treys, vs. North Dakota State . . . Freshman Dana Moorman scored for the first time against Lipscomb . . . Junior college transfer Stephanie Douglas matched her career high with seven points Saturday.
MAC STATS: Ball State currently tops the Mid-American Conference in scoring average at 78.5 . . . The Cardinals are also first in field goal percentage, assists, steals and assist/turnover ratio . . . BSU ranks in the top three in scoring margin (3rd), 3-point field goal percentage (2nd), turnover margin (2nd), offensive rebounds (3rd) and 3-point field goals made (2nd) . . . Individually, Krista Stewart, Julie DeMuth and Tina Bolte place eighth, 10th and 17th, respectively, in scoring . . . DeMuth is second in rebounding -- both overall and offensive -- and eighth in steals . . . She is also ninth in 3-point field goal percentage . . . Stewart is third in 3-point field goal percentage, fourth in overall field goal percentage and 11th in blocks . . . She ties Bolte for seventh in 3-point field goals made . . . Kelsey Corbin is third in assists, 10th in assist/turnover ratio and 13th in steals . . . Kiley Jarrett is sixth in assists and fourth in assist/turnover ratio . . . Raechelle Hampton is fifth in offensive rebounds.
WONDERFUL WORTHEN: Ball State is 47-15 in home games over the last six campaigns for a .758 rate of success . . . BSU, which is perfect in four home contests this season, finished with an 8-5 mark in home games in 2004-05 after a 6-5 slate during the 2003-04 season . . . BSU posted a 7-2 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.
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 -- Erica Cotton, Stephanie Douglas, Raechelle Hampton and Brandy Ross . . . Three more hail from the state of Ohio -- Becca Bajorek (Columbus), Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati) and Dana Moorman (Dayton).
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 MAC 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 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 . . . A starter in 17 contests, Bajorek 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.
BALL STATE COACHING STAFF: 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 . . . An original member of 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.
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 squad that was 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 No. 3 ranked team in the nation.
TV TIME: Ball State is scheduled to have two games aired by the Ball State Sports Network -- Jan. 14 vs. Central Michigan Michigan and Feb. 15 against Toledo . . . 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.
