Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball at Miami Wednesday
January 25, 2006 | Women's Basketball
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE:
Arena (Seating Capacity) Millett Hall (6,400)
Tip-off 7 p.m.
Television Time Warner -- Cincinnati/Dayton
Webcast WCRD FM 91.3
Series Miami leads 36-15
TELEVISION: The BSU-Miami game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on Time Warner in Dayton and Cincinnati . . . The game will air Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. in those markets . . . Tim Bray will handle play-by-play duties, while Katie Janky will provide color commentary for the contest.
RADIO COVERAGE: The BSU-Miami 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.
BALL STATE PROBABLE STARTERS:
1 Tina Bolte G 5-7 Jr./Jr. 11.4 ppg 2.7 rpg 1.0 apg 28.7 mpg
11 Kelsey Corbin G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 8.9 ppg 3.7 rpg 4.4 apg 26.3 mpg
13 Raechelle Hampton C 6-2 Sr./Sr. 8.8 ppg 5.4 rpg 0.9 spg 27.0 mpg
23 Erica Cotton G 5-8 Sr./Jr. 4.4 ppg 2.7 rpg 2.0 apg 21.6 mpg
14 Julie DeMuth G 5-10 So./So. 12.5 ppg 8.6 rpg 2.1 spg 27.4 mpg
OFF THE BENCH:
2 Stephanie Douglas G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 5.4 ppg 2.1 rpg 0.6 apg 13.5 mpg
3 Porchia Green G 5-8 Fr./Fr. 3.5 ppg 2.7 rpg 1.4 spg 14.4 mpg
12 Kiley Jarrett G 5-4 Fr./Fr. 3.3 ppg 1.8 rpg 3.4 apg 18.8 mpg
25 Dana Moorman F 6-0 Fr./Fr. 0.4 ppg 0.6 rpg 0.0 apg 4.3 mpg
42 Lisa Rusche F 6-1 So./So. 2.8 ppg 2.9 rpg 0.5 bpg 11.3 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. 5.5 ppg 2.0 rpg 0.0 bpg 15.0 mpg
SCOUTING BALL STATE: Ball State is 10-6 overall and tied for second place in the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 3-2 mark . . . The Cardinals have won three of their last four outings, including a 68-62 decision last Saturday at Northern Illinois . . . Julie DeMuth tops the team with 12.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game . . . Tina Bolte is second in scoring with her 11.4 average . . . Raechelle Hampton is second in rebounding with 5.4 a game and fourth with an 8.8 scoring average . . . Kelsey Corbin, who is third in scoring with 8.9 points per game, owns a team-leading 4.4 assists average . . . BSU averages 67.2 points and 38.2 rebounds each game, while yielding 67.1 points and 38.3 rebounds to its opponents . . . The Cardinals rank No. 1 in the MAC in assists (14.7) and second in assist/turnover ratio (0.89).
ROSTER UPDATE: Senior Krista Stewart has left the Ball State women's basketball program for personal reasons.
SCOUTING MIAMI: Miami is 6-10 overall and in fifth place in the MAC's East Division with a 1-4 mark . . . The RedHawks, who have dropped five of their last six, have struggled since losing the services of junior Amanda Jackson -- an honorable mention all-league selection in 2005 -- early in the campaign due to injury . . . Cindi Merrill, a preseason all-league and two-time All-MAC Second Team selection, tops the team and ranks No. 3 in the league with her 16.4 scoring average . . . Jenna Schone is second in scoring for MU with a 9.4 average and tied for first in the MAC with 4.9 assists per game . . . Miami averages 65.7 points and 40.1 rebounds, while giving up 69.3 points and 39.4 rebounds to its opponents . . . MU leads the league with 15.8 offensive rebounds each game.
BALL STATE VS. MIAMI: The Ball State-Miami series is one of the oldest in BSU's history, dating back to the first year basketball was recognized as an intercollegiate sport for women at the university in 1974-75 . . . BSU was victorious in the first-ever matchup -- 67-62 -- Feb. 15, 1975, in Muncie . . . Miami boasts a 36-15 advantage in the series . . . The Cardinals, however, won the last matchup between the teams last season and have been victorious in four of the last six meetings between the teams . . . Miami has won 20 of the 23 games versus Ball State played in Oxford.
LAST TIME: Ball State jumped out to a 40-25 lead at halftime and held on for a 75-60 victory over Miami Jan. 30, 2005, in Muncie . . . The Cardinals held Miami to a cold .329 field goal percentage in the contest, while shooting .444 themselves . . . Miami was 0-9 from 3-point range in the first half and 2-of-19 for the game . . . Kate Endress led BSU with 23 points and eight rebounds . . . Tina Bolte chipped in with 10 points, while Julie DeMuth matched Endress for game honors with eight rebounds . . . MU's Cindi Merrill led all scorers with 25 points . . . Amanda Jackson added 14 plus topped the RedHawks with seven rebounds . . . BSU posted a 43-35 advantage on the boards, but had 23 turnovers to MU's 14.
COMMON OPPONENTS: Ball State and Miami have played a pair of common opponents -- Butler and Wright State -- with similar results . . . Both teams lost to Wright State -- the Cardinals 77-74 and the RedHawks 70-60 . . . BSU (74-66) and MU (88-72) swept Butler this season.
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.
BALANCED BALL STATE: Ball State has had at least three players score in double figures in 11 games thus far . . . Four players reached double digits for the fifth time this season Jan. 11 at Western Michigan Jan. 11 . . . BSU also accomplished the feat versus Evansville Nov. 22, against Butler Dec. 9, at Santa Clara Dec. 31 and at 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.
BENCH AID: With two starters (Tina Bolte and Julie DeMuth) injured and unable to dress for Saturday's game, head coach Tracy Roller looked to her bench . . . Junior Stephanie Douglas and sophomore Lisa Rusche made their first collegiate starts and provided plenty of relief for the Cardinals . . . Douglas collected her third double-figure scoring effort of the campaign with 11 points in a career-high 29 minutes of work . . . She also tied her career highs in blocks, 3-pointers made and attempted . . . Rusche pulled down a game-high six rebounds in a career-high 22 minutes of action . . . The six rebounds ties her career best . . . In addition to the efforts of Douglas and Rusche, Becca Bajorek, Porchia Green and Kiley Jarrett combined for 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block off the bench.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Sophomore Julie DeMuth is leading Ball State for the second-straight year in rebounding . . . She is averaging a MAC-best 8.6 per game . . . She has led BSU in rebounding 10 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 fifth in the MAC with 4.4 assists per game . . . She accumulated the third double-digit assist total of her career with 11 at Western Michigan Jan. 11 . . . 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 eight times this season . . . In addition, she owns eight double-figure scoring efforts in 2005-06 and a total of 20 in her career.
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 3.4 assists per game.
IN MAC GAMES: Three players are averaging double-figure scoring marks in Ball State's five MAC games -- Julie DeMuth at 13.8, Tina Bolte at 12.0 and Kelsey Corbin at 11.4 . . . DeMuth tops the team with a 7.5 rebounding average . . . Corbin is dishing off 5.0 assists per game . . . Over the five-game span, BSU is averaging 68.6 points and 34.6 rebounds versus 65.6 points and 38.6 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 48-17 in home games over the last six campaigns for a .739 rate of success . . . BSU, which is 5-2 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.
TV SCHEDULE SET: Ball State has a two-game television package this season with the Ball State Sports Network -- Jan. 14 vs. Central Michigan and Feb. 15 against Toledo . . . The Cardinals will also appear twice on Comcast Local -- Jan. 18 against Eastern Michigan and again Feb. 28 versus Northern Illinois . . . In addition, BSU's Jan. 31 game at Ohio will be televised by FSN Ohio.
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 No. 1 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 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.
