Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Scores 63-52 Victory in California
December 29, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Tina Bolte nailed a career-high six 3-pointers -- five of which came in the second half -- to lead Ball State to a 63-52 victory over Saint Mary's College Thursday in Moraga, Calif. Bolte fueled an 11-0 run early in the second half with three-straight bombs and then hit her final trey with just a little over a minute left in the contest to put the game out of reach and give BSU the victory.
The game looked like it would be a blowout to start as Ball State jumped out to a 7-0 lead, thanks to a pair of buckets by Raechelle Hampton sandwiched around one more from Stephanie Douglas and a free throw from Julie DeMuth. Saint Mary's did not get on the score board until back-to-back free throws by Sarena Benavente 4:34 into the contest. After the teams traded two sets of baskets, Kelsey Corbin and Bolte matched jumpers to give the Cardinals their largest advantage of 10 points -- 16-6 -- with 8:15 left in the half.
Saint Mary's responded with a 7-0 run, putting them within five points at 16-11. The Gaels got within three points when Erika Urmonaite hit a short jumper at the 3:51 mark. DeMuth answered with a field goal to put the Cardinals back up by five. Douglas immediately followed with her second goal of the period, giving BSU a 22-15 lead with 2:19 remaining in the half. From there, it was all Saint Mary's. A long trey by Benavente, a pair of free throws from Maija Lahde and then a last second 3-pointer by Monica Mertle gave the Gaels a 23-22 advantage at the break.
Ball State opened the second half in much the same fashion as the first -- with a run of 11 points to take a 33-23 lead with just over three minutes elapsed. Bolte propelled the run with three successive long bombs followed after two opening half free tosses by Corbin. Saint Mary's responded with a 9-0 run to get within one point. A bucket by Corbin put the Cardinals back on top by three, but the Gaels came back with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Benavente and then a long three by Jonelle Smith to move ahead 38-35. After trading baskets, the Cardinals scored 14 unanswered points to gain back their second double-digit advantage of the game -- 52-42 -- with 6:14 left in the contest. The closest the Gaels would get from there was six points around the three-minute mark, but Ball State closed out the game scoring nine of the final 14 points to secure the win.
Bolte led all scorers with 20 points. DeMuth and Corbin chipped in with 12 and 11, respectively. BSU posted a 30-29 edge on the boards with DeMuth and Lisa Rusche totaling five apiece. BSU shot 44 percent from the floor, including 7-of-14 from 3-point range.
"I am really proud of this team," BSU head coach Tracy Roller said. "We finally played a great second half. I thought we dominated defensively and controlled the game most of the way, but our offense really picked up in the second half. We did a better job of getting looks and the ball into the right hands. Tina really hit some clutch shots."
Ball State improves to 7-3 on the season, while Saint Mary's falls to 4-8. The Cardinals continue play Saturday with a New Year's Eve date at Santa Clara.
