Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Returns Home Saturday to Host Akron
January 26, 2006 | Women's Basketball
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE:
Arena (Seating Capacity) Worthen Arena (11,500)
Tip-off 3 p.m.
Television none
Webcast WCRD FM 91.3 and WXFN 1340 AM
Series Ball State leads 12-8
RADIO COVERAGE: The BSU-Akron 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 Akron 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 Akron . . . 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. 11.4 ppg 2.7 rpg 1.1 apg 28.6 mpg
11 Kelsey Corbin G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 9.0 ppg 3.5 rpg 4.3 apg 26.4 mpg
13 Raechelle Hampton C 6-2 Sr./Sr. 8.5 ppg 5.3 rpg 0.9 spg 26.6 mpg
23 Erica Cotton G 5-8 Sr./Jr. 5.1 ppg 2.7 rpg 2.0 apg 21.8 mpg
14 Julie DeMuth G 5-10 So./So. 12.3 ppg 8.9 rpg 2.2 spg 27.3 mpg
OFF THE BENCH:
2 Stephanie Douglas G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 5.4 ppg 2.1 rpg 0.7 spg 13.6 mpg
3 Porchia Green G 5-8 Fr./Fr. 3.2 ppg 2.5 rpg 1.3 spg 13.9 mpg
12 Kiley Jarrett G 5-4 Fr./Fr. 3.2 ppg 1.6 rpg 3.3 apg 18.6 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. 2.7 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. 5.0 ppg 3.3 rpg 0.3 bpg 17.0 mpg
SCOUTING BALL STATE: Ball State is 10-7 overall and, after a loss at Miami Wednesday, tied for third place in the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 3-3 mark . . . The Cardinals' 10 overall victories ties for the fourth-highest among league teams this season . . . Julie DeMuth continues to pace the team with 12.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game . . . Tina Bolte is second with an 11.4 scoring average, while Raechelle Hampton is second in rebounding with 5.3 boards per game . . . Kelsey Corbin tops BSU with 4.3 assists per game . . . The Cardinals average 67.1 points and 38.4 rebounds each game, while surrendering 67.0 points and 39.2 rebounds to their opponents.
ROSTER UPDATE: Senior Krista Stewart has left the Ball State women's basketball program for personal reasons.
SCOUTING AKRON: Akron is 3-14 overall, but winless in six MAC games . . . Three of the Zips' league losses have been by eight points or less . . . Jessie Crooks tops the team with 13.1 points per game . . . Niki McCoy is second in scoring with her 11.9 average, but first with 6.2 rebounds per game . . . Courtney Stewart is just shy of a double-digit average with 9.8 points per game . . . She ranks fourth in the league in both 3-point field goals made (32) and 3-point percentage (.372) . . . The Zips average 55.2 points and 31.8 rebounds each game, while giving up 67.6 points and 38.2 rebounds to their opponents.
BALL STATE VS. AKRON: Ball State and Akron have met 20 times and the Cardinals have been victorious in 12 of those meetings . . . The series originated with a 64-56 Zips' win Dec. 17, 1986 . . . BSU has won the past six meetings against Akron, including a two-game sweep last season -- 67-51 Feb. 19 at Akron and 77-51 in the MAC Tournament March 5 in Muncie . . . The Zips' last win over BSU came with a 71-65 decision Feb. 20, 2000 . . . Ball State owns a 6-5 record versus Akron in games played in Muncie.
LAST TIME: Fifth-seeded Ball State roared out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back on the way to a 77-51 victory over 12th-seeded Akron in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament March 5, 2005, at Muncie . . . Kate Endress led a pack of four Cardinals who scored in double figures with a game-high 25 points as BSU advanced to the quarterfinals of the league postseason tourney for the fourth-straight season . . . Julie DeMuth added 18 points, while Tina Bolte and Raechelle Hampton chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively . . . Courtney Stewart led the Zips with 15 points and Mandy Holzer added 14 . . . BSU posted a 38-27 rebounding advantage and outshot its opponent .464 (26-of-56) to .373 (19-of-51) from the field.
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 12 games thus far . . . Four players reached double digits for the sixth time this season Wednesday at Miami . . . BSU also accomplished the feat versus Evansville Nov. 22, against Butler Dec. 9, at Santa Clara Dec. 31, at Toledo Jan. 7 and at Western Michigan Jan. 11. . . 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.
COTTON TALE: Erica Cotton has made great strides since moving into Ball State's starting lineup Dec. 10 at Butler . . . Over the 11-game span, she is averaging 6.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game . . . Cotton, a senior academically and a junior eligibility-wise, has tallied a trio of double-digit scoring marks during the stretch, including back-to-back career-high marks of 17 points at Northern Illinois last Saturday and again at Miami Wednesday . . . She has tied or bettered six career statistical marks since Dec. 10.
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 11 times this season . . . She has posted a MAC-leading six double-doubles in 2005-06 for a total of nine 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 came Dec. 31 with 17 points and 14 rebounds at Santa Clara . . . Her fifth included a career-high 24 points 13 rebounds at Toledo Jan. 7 and her latest 10 points and 13 rebounds at Miami Wednesday. . . DeMuth has 14 double-digit rebounding marks in her career and has led BSU in that category a total of 22 times . . . She also boasts 17 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 sixth in the MAC with 4.3 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 nine double-figure scoring efforts in 2005-06 and a total of 21 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 12th in the MAC with 3.3 assists per game.
IN MAC GAMES: Three players are averaging double-figure scoring marks in Ball State's five MAC games -- Julie DeMuth at 13.0, Tina Bolte at 11.8 and Kelsey Corbin at 11.2 . . . DeMuth tops the team with an 8.6 rebounding average . . . Corbin is dishing off 4.7 assists per game . . . Over the six-game span, BSU is averaging 68.0 points and 35.8 rebounds versus 65.7 points and 41.2 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.
