Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens Season At Michigan Tonight
November 12, 2006 | Women's Basketball
What's On Tap . . .
The Cardinals open the 2006-07 regular season on the road as they travel to Big Ten foe Michigan tonight. Ball State is one of the last Mid-American Conference teams to open the season this weekend, while Michigan is playing in its second game of the weekend after picking up an 80-50 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday night.
The game will be televised on Comcast Local at 7 p.m. and can been seen on channel five in the Muncie area.
Season Openers . . .
Monday's game is the 33rd season opener in the history of Ball State women's basketball. The Cardinals are 15-17 all-time in openers but have picked up victories in the last two kick-off games. Ball State will be opening the season on the road for just the 11th time in program history as BSU is 5-5 in road season openers, including a 90-72 victory last season at Murray State. In that game, the Cardinals were led by Tina Bolte and Julie DeMuth who each scored over 20 points in the victory.
Series History . . .
Monday night's game with the Wolverines is the third meeting all-time between the two teams. Ball State trails the all-time series by a 0-2 margin as Michigan picked up victories in the 1988-89 season and the 1987-88 season. This is just the second trip all-time for the Cardinals to Ann Arbor as each team has hosted a game in the series so far
1988-89
Michigan 78, BSU 71 (H)
1987-88
Michigan 79 (H), BSU 60
Cardinals vs. Big Ten . . .
Ball State has faced off against eight of the 11 Big Ten teams in the program's history and the Cardinals own a 17-48 mark all-time against teams from the conference. The Cardinals have played Indiana (24) and Purdue (23) the most in program history while BSU has never played Northwestern, Iowa and Penn State.
The Cardinals last played a team from the Big Ten during the 2003-04 season in which BSU fell at Indiana, 71-62.
Ball State is 3-4 all-time against Big Ten teams in season openers, including the Cardinals' last victory over a Big Ten team. BSU knocked off Minnesota in the opener of the 1999-2000 season on the road. The Cardinals also are 2-1 against Purdue in season openers and 0-3 against Indiana in openers.
Scouting the Cardinals . . .
Ball State returns eight letterwinners, including four players who started at least nine games, from last season's 17-12 team. The Cardinals return 71% of their scoring and 76% of their rebounding from last season's team.
Ball State is led by preseason All-Mid-American Conference selection Julie DeMuth. DeMuth, a junior from Merrillville, Ind., led the Cardinals in scoring last season at 11.4 points per game and also led the the conference in rebounding at 8.9 boards per contest.
The Cardinals also return a trio of seniors in guards Kelsey Corbin and Tina Bolte as well as center Becca Bajorek. Corbin was third on the team in scoring at 8.6 points per game and led the team with 115 assists. Bolte was one of the top three-point shooters in the entire MAC last season as she connected on 67-of-192 (.368) of her long-range shots. She was second on the team in scoring with 305 points last season. Bajorek missed the first half of the season due to an injury but came on late to averaged 6.2 points per game for the Cardinals down the stretch.
Also in the mix with starts last season are guards Porchia Green and Kiley Jarrett. Green made nine starts last season as a true freshman as she averaged 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest. Jarrett finished the year second on the team in assists with 74 and is the only returning player that appeared in every single game a year ago.
Rounding out the returning letterwinners from last season is forward Lisa Rusche and sophomore Dana Moorman. Rusche made one start last season and averaged 3.1 points per game while Moorman appeared in 11 games.
The Cardinals add three freshmen to the mix this season in forward Kalynne Proctor and guards Audrey McDonald and Kyleigh Jones.
Proctor, a forward from Shaker Heights, Ohio, was a three-year letterwinner at Regina High School. She was named an All-Ohio Honorable Mention as a senior and guided her team to a state championship as a junior.
McDonald, a guard from nearby Kokomo, Ind., joins the team after starring four-years at Kokomo High School. During her career, she led her team to wins in over 86 percent of their games and holds the career records for three-pointers made (238), attempted (579) and is second all-time in three-point percentage at .411.
Jones, a guard from Elwood, Ind., was a four-year standout at Elwood High School. She finished her storied career as the all-time leading scorer in both boy's and girl's basketball at Elwood with 1,698 career points.
Exhibition Season . . .
The Cardinals posted a 2-0 record in exhibition play and head coach Tracy Roller is now 9-3 all-time in exhibition games. BSU picked up a 25-point victory over the Ohio Legends and a 93-89 victory over the Hoosier Lady Stars in their final tune-up for the regular season.
Against the Hoosier Stars, the Cardinals had five different players score in double figures, including a double-double from junior Julie DeMuth. DeMuth scored a team-high 22 points on seven-of-12 shooting and also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Freshman Kalynne Proctor scored 15 points in just 19 minutes of action while Audrey McDonald added 14 points on the strength of four three-pointers. BSU as a team connected on 12-of-20 from three-point land as three different Cardinals notched at least three three-pointers apiece.
In the Ohio Legends game, BSU scored the first 16 points of the game and jumped out to a 30-2 lead to cruise to the victory. DeMuth recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while senior Kelsey Corbin added 10 points and six assists. Junior forward Lisa Rusche added 10 points as she was four-of-four from the floor and two-of-two from the charity stripe.
Scouting Michigan . . .
Michigan comes into tonight's game with a 1-0 record on the season as the Wolverines opened the year with an 80-50 victory over Southwestern Athletic Conference member Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday. The Wolverines shot 43.1 percent from the field in the game and held UAPB to just 24.1 percent shooting from the field.
Michigan was led by guard Janelle Cooper who scored 18 points in 28 minutes of action. Ta'Shia Walker chipped in 15 points off of the bench of the Wolverines who had 12 different players scored at least two points in the blowout victory.
Michigan is coming off of a 6-23 season last year in which the Wolverines finished 0-16 in the Big Ten. Michigan returns all five starters from last season's team and all 10 letterwinners for head coach Cheryl Burnett's team.
Preseason Prognosticators . . .
Ball State was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the preseason poll conducted by league coaches and members of the MAC News Media Association.
Ball State received 157 total votes including six first place votes in the West Division as four different teams garnered first place tallies. Defending divisional champion Easter Michigan was picked to finish first in the West with 241 total votes and 21 first place votes while Western Michigan was tabbed for second with 188 votes and eight first place picks. Northern Illinois, Toledo and Central Michigan round out the preseason poll for the West Division.
Defending MAC Champion and NCAA Tournament participant Bowling Green was picked to repeat in the East Division with 245 total votes and 40 first place votes. Kent State was tabbed for second while Miami, Ohio, Buffalo and Akron round out the East Division predictions. Bowling Green was also picked to win the 2007 MAC Tournament.
Double-Trouble . . .
Junior Julie DeMuth led the Mid-American Conference in double-doubles last season as she posted 10 double dips as a sophomore. DeMuth comes into her junior season with 13 career double-doubles. She is fourth all-time in Cardinals' history in double-doubles and she needs just one double-double to move into a tie for third all-time with former BSU great Kate Endress.
Below is a list of the all-time double-doubles in BSU history:
Emma Jones - 49
Tamara Bowie - 31
Kate Endress - 14
Julie DeMuth - 13
Radio Air Time . . .
The Cardinals will again have most of their games broadcast on the student station WCRD 91.3, including both exhibition games. All games broadcast by WCRD will also be streamed online at www.ballstatesports.com. Kyle Trompeter, Karl Mandik and Joel Nickels will do the honors for WCRD.
Ball State will also have 15 regular season games broadcast on Muncie's WXFN 1340 AM this season. Jay Garrison will handle the play-by-play duties this season. The 15 games broadcast on WXFN are:
Nov. 18 - Wright State
Nov. 25 - Howard
Nov. 26 - BSU Credit Union
Dec. 2 at Butler
Dec. 10 vs. Valparaiso
Dec. 18 at Indiana
Jan. 3 - Toledo
Jan. 6 - Western Michigan
Jan. 17 - Northern Illinois
Jan. 20 - Miami
Jan. 27 - Ohio
Feb. 11 - Kent State
Feb. 17 at Western Michigan
Feb. 21 - Central Michigan
Feb. 24 - Eastern Michigan
MAC TOURNAMENT
Corbin's Corner . . .
Cardinal fans can get an inside look at the BSU women's basketball team this season from Corbin's Corner. Senior guard Kelsey Corbin has been keeping an online journal through the entire preseason and will continue throughout her senior campaign on www.ballstatesports.com. Check out the weekly journal that updates each Friday afternoon.
Cardinal Schedule . . .
Ball State has a challenging 27-game schedule for the upcoming 2006-07 season. The schedule includes non-conference games against teams from the Big Ten, Horizon League and Conference USA as well as the Mid-Eastern, Independent, Big South, Missouri Valley, Metro-Atlantic and Atlantic 10 conferences. The Cardinals will also have a 16-game Mid-American Conference schedule this season.
The slate includes games against six teams that advanced to the postseason in 2006, including NCAA Tournament teams Tulsa and Bowling Green as well as WNIT participants Indiana, Xavier, Charlotte and Eastern Michigan. The Cardinals will also face nine teams that finished last season with an RPI of 150 or better, including seven against teams rated in the top 100 in RPI.
Countdown to 100 . . .
Head coach Tracy Roller enters her sixth season as the helm of the Cardinals and brings a 91-59 record into the year. She is already the all-time winningest coach in BSU women's basketball history. She needs just nine wins to become just the third basketball coach as Ball State, men's or women's, to reach 100 career victories with the Cardinals.
Owning the Glass . . .
Junior guard Julie DeMuth led the Cardinals and the Mid-American Conference in rebounding last season with 249 boards. DeMuth became just the fourth Cardinal all-time to lead the MAC in rebounding joining the likes of Jessica Reiter (2004-05), Christy Jones (1999-00) and Karen Bauer (1981-82).
DeMuth's 249 rebounds were the eighth most in a single season at BSU. She enters the year 15th all-time in career rebounds with 458 boards.
10th - Alana Hancock (586)
11th - Glena Rusch (540)
12th - Lisa Hicks (501)
13th - Amy Zercher (500)
14th - Dianne McConnell (475)
15th - Julie DeMuth (458)
It's Trey Day . . .
Senior Tina Bolte led the Cardinals last season with 67 three-pointers made on the year. Her 67 three-pointers were the fifth most in a single season at BSU and she enters the year fifth all-time in career-three-pointers made with 132. She needs just 20 three-pointers to move into the top three long-range shooters all-time at Ball State.
1st - Johna Goff (253)
2nd - Kate Endress (205
3rd - Markita Griffin (152)
4th - Alana Hancock (139
5th - Tina Bolte (132)
Lending a Helping Hand . . .
Senior guard Kelsey Corbin led the team in assists last year as she dished out 115 helpers. She begins her senior season ninth all-time in career assists with 286 and can become just the seventh Cardinal to reach the 300-assist plateau with 14 helpers this season.
5th - Jane Emkes (346)
6th - Alana Hancock (302)
7th - Michelle Baker (298)
8th - Summer Armstrong (287)
9th - Kelsey Corbin (286)
New Face On the Staff . . .
The Cardinals added a new member to the coaching staff this year as Rekha Hollomon joined the family. Hollomon comes to the Cardinals after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois.
Looking Ahead . . .
The Cardinals will open the 2006-07 home portion of the regular season next Saturday afternoon as they play host to regional foe Wright State. Game time is set for 3 p.m. at Worthen Arena.
The game is first of three straight for the Cardinals at home at Worthen Arena as BSU also hosts the BSU Federal Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament.
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