Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Uses Strong Second Half To Down Big Ten Foe Michigan, 62-58
November 13, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Ann Arbor, Mich. ? The Ball State women's basketball team rallied from a 13-point first half deficit with a stellar second half effort as the Cardinals toppled Big Ten foe Michigan, 62-58, in their season opener at Crisler Arena on Monday night. The Cardinals shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half as they used a 16-0 run to take the lead for good and secure the victory.
"We deserved this win tonight. We executed perfectly in the second half and showed a lot of resiliency to come from behind," head coach Tracy Roller said. "We had so many players step up tonight in big situations and Kelsey (Corbin) provided us with some great leadership."
Senior Kelsey Corbin led all scorers as she scored 16 points, including 11 in the second half. Corbin connected on six-of-eight shooting from the field while also added four-of-six from the charity stripe.
Freshman Audrey McDonald chipped in 14 points as she notched four three-pointers in the second half to key the BSU comeback. Classmate Kalynne Proctor added 10 points off of the bench for the Cardinals as she was four-of-six from the field.
Both teams opened the game slowly as the Cardinals scored their first basket of the season when Proctor scored off of a lay-up at the
Ball State showed its resiliency as it clamped down on the defense in the final three-plus minutes as they held Michigan without a basket. The Cardinals closed out the half on a 7-1 run to go into the locker room trailing, 32-25. McDonald and Corbin keyed the spurt with a basket apiece.
The Cardinals opened the game off the mark shooting from the field as BSU connected on just five-of-20 (.250) in the opening frame. Ball State used its aggressiveness to score from the free throw line as the Cardinals went 15-of-21 (.714) from the charity stripe in the opening frame. Junior Julie DeMuth led the way in the opening stanza with six points and six rebounds while Proctor also chipped in six points.
Michigan connected on 12-of-24 from the field in the opening frame but was forced into 14 turnovers in the half. Krista Phillips paced the Wolverines in the half with eight points.
The Cardinals came out of the second half and went on an 11-4 run in the first five minutes to tie the game at 36-36. Corbin spurred the run as she scored six quick points and McDonald knocked down BSU's first three-pointer to clear the Wolverine lead.
Michigan responded with seven straight points but the Cardinals showed their mettle as they ran off 16 straight points to take their first lead of the night and pull ahead, 52-43. McDonald keyed the run as she connected on three three-pointers in the spurt while sophomore Kiley Jarrett scored the basket that gave BSU its first lead. The Cardinals ran off their 16-0 run during a span of
Michigan (1-1) responded with a 12-4 run to put the pressure on the Cardinals but Ball State countered their blow with a strong finish. After the Wolverines pulled within two at 56-54, Jarrett came through with a critical three-pointer just under four minutes remaining to give BSU some breathing room. Proctor put the game out of reach with a basket under two minutes left to move the game to a two possession contest.
Ball State (1-0) shot 15-of-24 (.625) from the field in the second half, including six-of-eight from three-point land. The Cardinal defense held Michigan to just 38.5 percent shooting and just two-of-12 from three-point land in the second half. BSU also forced the Wolverines into 26 turnovers on the night. Janelle Cooper led all Michigan scorers with 13 points while Phillips finished with 10 points.
The Cardinals will open the home portion of the 2006-07 schedule this Saturday afternoon as they welcome in regional foe Wright State. Game time is set for
####
