Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts Eastern Michigan Wednesday
January 16, 2006 | Women's Basketball
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE:
Arena (Seating Capacity) Worthen Arena (11,500)
Tip-off 7:07 p.m.
Television Michigan Comcast Local
Webcast WCRD FM 91.3 and WXFN 1340 AM
Series Eastern Michigan leads 29-21
TELEVISION: The BSU-Eastern Michigan game will be televised by Comcast Local of Michigan . . . Comcast Local is a regional sports network in Michigan, which produces high school, college and professional sports contests around the state . . . Ben Holden will handle play-by-play duties, while Daedra Furlow will provide color commentary . . . This marks the second of four televised appearances for Ball State this season . . . The Cardinals' game against Central Michigan last Saturday was televised by the Ball State Sports Network.
RADIO COVERAGE: The BSU-Eastern Michigan 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 plus all MAC Tournament games carried by Muncie's WXFN 1340 AM . . . The package includes the Eastern Michigan game . . . Jay Garrison, who is in his fourth season as part of the team, will handle play-by-play duties, while former BSU basketball standout Julie Just will provide the color commentary . . . Just is in her second season with WXFN . . . 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. 11.6 ppg 2.9 rpg 1.1 apg 29.1 mpg
11 Kelsey Corbin G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 8.9 ppg 3.9 rpg 4.6 apg 25.4 mpg
13 Raechelle Hampton C 6-2 Sr./Sr. 9.1 ppg 5.8 rpg 1.0 spg 26.8 mpg
23 Erica Cotton G 5-8 Sr./Jr. 3.6 ppg 2.5 rpg 2.0 apg 20.9 mpg
14 Julie DeMuth G 5-10 So./So. 12.3 ppg 8.9 rpg 1.9 spg 27.4 mpg
OFF THE BENCH:
2 Stephanie Douglas G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 4.8 ppg 2.1 rpg 0.6 spg 11.7 mpg
3 Porchia Green G 5-8 Fr./Fr. 3.3 ppg 2.6 rpg 1.4 spg 14.1 mpg
12 Kiley Jarrett G 5-4 Fr./Fr. 2.9 ppg 1.8 rpg 3.5 apg 19.5 mpg
25 Dana Moorman F 6-0 Fr./Fr. 0.4 ppg 0.6 rpg 0.0 apg 4.3 mpg
35 Krista Stewart C 6-1 Sr./Jr. 9.2 ppg 2.6 rpg 1.1 spg 18.9 mpg
42 Lisa Rusche F 6-1 So./So. 3.2 ppg 2.7 rpg 0.5 bpg 10.5 mpg
44 Brandy Ross F 6-1 So./So. 1.3 ppg 1.2 rpg 0.2 apg 8.0 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 upped it record to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play after a pair of wins last week . . . Julie DeMuth tops BSU with 12.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and nearly 2.0 steals per game . . . Tina Bolte is second in scoring with her 11.6 average . . . Raechelle Hampton is second in rebounding with 5.8 per game . . . Kelsey Corbin tops the team with a 4.6 assists average . . . Ball State averages 67.8 points and 39.1 rebounds each game, while yielding 67.5 points and 38.0 rebounds to its opponents.
INJURY UPDATE: Junior center Becca Bajorek has missed the entire season thus far due to a hip injury . . . She did, however, dress for the first time at Toledo and has been on the bench since.
SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN: Eastern Michigan is 9-5 overall and in first place in the MAC's West Division with a 3-0 mark . . . The Eagles come to Muncie riding the waves of a five-game winning streak, which includes decisions over Canisius, Oakland, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan . . . EMU, the preseason favorite to win the division, has made back-to-back postseason appearances -- to the 2004 NCAA Tournament after capturing the MAC regular season and tournament titles and to the WNIT last year after a runner-up finish at the league's postseason event . . . Ryan Coleman, a two-time first-team all-league selection, tops the team with an 18.2 scoring average . . . Nikki Knapp, a preseason all-league selection, is second with her 14.4 points per game . . . EMU averages 65.1 points and 40.9 rebounds, while surrendering 57.1 points and 36.8 rebounds to its opponents.
BALL STATE VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN: Eastern Michigan owns a 29-21 advantage in the series with Ball State, which dates back to a 75-65 EMU win Feb. 15, 1980 . . . The Eagles won the first 10 meetings between the teams and have been victorious in each of the last five . . . The Cardinals' last win over Eastern Michigan was a 66-65 decision Feb. 1, 2003 . . . BSU has won 11 of the 23 games against EMU played at home in Muncie.
LAST TIME: Eastern Michigan ended Ball State's 2004-05 campaign with a 72-64 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2005 MAC Tournament March 9 in Cleveland . . . BSU held a slim 32-31 advantage at the halfway mark, but Eastern Michigan turned up its defensive pressure on MAC Player of the Year Kate Endress and held her scoreless for most of the second period to gain the win . . . Endress concluded her storied BSU career with 20 points . . . Raechelle Hampton and Tina Bolte had 12 each . . . Julie DeMuth pulled down 12 rebounds . . . Nikki Knapp led the Eagles with 20 points, while Ryan Coleman and Sarah VanMetre chipped in with 18 and 11 each.
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.
HOME SWEET HOME: Ball State's game against Central Michigan marked the end of seven-straight road games for the Cardinals . . . BSU's long road journey began Dec. 10 at Butler and extended through last Wednesday's tilt at Western Michigan . . . The Cardinals opened MAC play with back-to-back road games for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign . . . After Wednesday's clash with Eastern Michigan, BSU is on the road for three of its next four games.
BALANCED BALL STATE: Ball State has had at least three players score in double figures in 10 games thus far . . . Four players reached double digits for the fifth time this season last Wednesday at Western Michigan . . . BSU also accomplished the feat versus Evansville Nov. 22, against Butler Dec. 9, at Santa Clara Dec. 31 and against Toledo Jan. 7 . . . In the Toledo game, two of the four players -- Julie DeMuth (24) and Kelsey Corbin (20) scored 20 or more points . . . Five hit the double-digit plateau against North Dakota State Nov. 27 -- Krista Stewart, Kiley Jarrett, DeMuth, Corbin and Raechelle Hampton . . . All 11 players who dressed against Lipscomb scored at least three points . . . All 10 players who saw action in both games last week scored at least one point in each game.
BENCH SUPPORT: Ball State got 33 of its 81 points against Western Michigan last Wednesday off the bench . . . The Cardinals got 25 of 57 points off the bench against Central Michigan Saturday . . . Stephanie Douglas averaged 13 points, 3.5 rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench last week . . . She scored a career-high 12 points at WMU and then bettered that mark with a game-high 14 versus CMU . . .
Krista Stewart also scored in double digits off the bench with 11 against the Broncos, marking her sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Sophomore Julie DeMuth is leading Ball State for the second-straight year in rebounding . . . She is averaging a MAC-best 8.9 per game . . . She has led BSU in rebounding nine times this season . . . She has posted five double-doubles in 2005-06 for a total of eight in her career . . . DeMuth had 14 points and 10 boards against Valparaiso Dec. 4 after 19 points and 14 rebounds versus Illinois State Nov. 30 . . . She had 11 points and 13 rebounds vs. North Dakota State Nov. 27 . . . Her fourth double-double effort came Dec. 31 with 17 points and 14 rebounds at Santa Clara and her latest with 24 points 13 rebounds at Toledo Jan. 7 . . . DeMuth has 13 double-digit rebounding marks in her career and has led BSU in that category a total of 20 times . . . She also boasts 15 double-figure scoring efforts.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE/DOUBLE-DOUBLE: In its Dec. 31 game against Santa Clara, Ball State dominated the boards accumulating a season-high 54 . . . For the first time this season, BSU had two players tally double-doubles in the game -- Julie DeMuth and Raechelle Hampton . . . DeMuth had a game-high 17 points versus the Broncos plus pulled down 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the campaign . . . Hampton snared a career-high and game-leading 15 missed shots plus added 14 points for her first career double-double.
CORBIN TOP SERVER: Kelsey Corbin ranks first for Ball State and fourth in the MAC with 4.6 assists per game . . . She accumulated the third double-digit assist total of her career with 11 at Western Michigan last Wednesday . . . She added 14 points against the Broncos to notch her second career double-double . . . Corbin tallied the second double-digit assist total of her career with 10 in BSU's opener against Murray State . . . Her 11 dishes versus Western Michigan ties her career high achieved against Miami March 10, 2004 . . . Corbin, who scored a season-high 20 points Jan. 7 at Toledo, has led the Cardinals in assists seven times this season.
PETITE DISH: Freshman Kiley Jarrett accumulated the second double-digit assist mark of her career with 10 at Wright State Dec. 17 . . . BSU's shortest player at 5-foot-4, Jarrett dished off a team season-high 11 versus Evansville Nov. 22 . . . She is currently second on the team and 11th in the MAC with 3.5 assists per game.
IN MAC GAMES: Three players are averaging double-figure scoring marks in Ball State's three MAC games -- Tina Bolte and Julie DeMuth with 13.3 averages and Kelsey Corbin with her 12.7 mark . . . DeMuth tops the team with an 8.3 rebounding average . . . Corbin is dishing off nearly seven assists per game . . . Over the three-game span, BSU is averaging 72.3 points and 36.7 rebounds versus 66.7 points and 37.3 rebounds for its opponents.
RECORD START: Ball State's 5-0 start to this season marked the best in school history . . . The five wins surpassed the 4-0 start of Brenda (Oldfield) Frese's 1999-2000 team . . . Four of the wins came in the friendly confines of Worthen Arena . . . Ball State's 6-1 start to the 2005-06 campaign has been bettered by just one other team in the 32-year history of women's basketball at the university . . . The 1975-76 squad began its campaign with a 7-1 record, before eventually finishing with a 13-6 mark.
WONDERFUL WORTHEN: Ball State is 48-16 in home games over the last six campaigns for a .750 rate of success . . . BSU, which is 5-1 in home contests this season, finished with an 8-5 mark at home 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 . . . 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 game at Northern Illinois Saturday has been moved ahead to a 4 p.m. (5 p.m. Muncie time) tip-off from the original 7 p.m. staring time.
TV SCHEDULE SET: Ball State is scheduled to have two games aired by the Ball State Sports Network -- Jan. 14 vs. Central Michigan and Feb. 15 against Toledo . . . In addition, the Cardinals will appear on FSN Ohio Jan. 31 at Ohio and on Comcast Local Wednesday against Eastern Michigan and Feb. 28 versus Northern Illinois.
MAC PRESEASON POLL: In the 2005-06 MAC News Media Association Preseason Poll, Ball State was picked to finish third in the West Division . . . Eastern Michigan was tabbed as the favorite in the West with 132 points, including 20 first-place votes . . . Western Michigan was second (99), followed by BSU (86), Toledo (83), Northern Illinois (44) and Central Michigan (39) . . . Bowling Green, the 2005 MAC Tournament and regular-season champs, is the favorite in its division with 132 points, including 17 first-place tallies . . . Kent State was second (117), followed by Miami (93), Ohio (68), Buffalo (40) and Akron (33) . . . BGSU, which move back to the East Division at the advent of this school year, is the favorite to win the tournament with 15 points, followed by Kent State with five, Eastern Michigan with four and Western Michigan with one point.
FORMIDABLE FOE: When Ball State traveled to Duke Dec. 19, it faced 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, which currently ranks second in both polls, 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.
DEMUTH GARNERS MAC AWARD: Julie DeMuth was honored for the first time in her career with her selection as Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week Dec. 5 . . . She gained the award after averaging 16.5 points and 12 rebounds over a two-game span . . . DeMuth notched her second and third-straight double-doubles of the season -- the fifth and sixth of her career -- with 19 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Illinois State Nov. 30 and then 14 points and 10 boards in a loss versus Valparaiso Dec. 4.
THE TRACY ROLLER SHOW: The Tracy Roller Show takes place each Monday night from 6 - 7 p.m. at Johnny Carino's in Muncie . . . The show, in its second season, is carried live on WCRD -- BSU's student-run radio station . . . Nathan Rausch, Joel Nickels and Kyle Trompeter host the show, which can be heard live on the web at www.ballstatesports.com.
BSU CAPTURES CLASSIC: BSU captured the championship of the first-ever Ball State Credit Union Classic Nov. 26-27 . . . 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.
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).
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.
IT'S ACADEMIC: The fall 2005 fall grading period marked the fifth-straight semester the Ball State women's basketball team has combined for a better than 3.00 grade-point average . . . The 13-member squad tallied a 3.09 GPA for the term . . . The team posted a 3.10 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 2005-06 team boasts an overall cumulative GPA of 3.07 with nine members netting 3.0 or higher marks . . . Kelsey Corbin tops the squad with a 3.69 cumulative GPA, followed by Tina Bolte at 3.49, Dana Moorman at 3.48, Becca Bajorek at 3.40, Lisa Rusche at 3.22, Raechelle Hampton at 3.16, Brandy Ross at 3.15, Julie DeMuth at 3.10 and Kiley Jarrett at 3.0.
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.
