Ball State University Athletics
Five Players in Double Figures Lead Women's Basketball To 92-47 Victory Over Howard
November 25, 2006 | Women's Basketball
"We had a great team effort this afternoon as everyone up and down our lineup contributed to the victory," head coach Tracy Roller said. "We wanted to put ourselves in position to protect our home tournament and play for the championship and we did that with our performance today."
Junior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills H.S.) recorded her first career double-double in the victory as she scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. She also notched a career-high four steals and a career-high four blocked shots for BSU. In total, she recorded six different statistical career marks in the game.
Senior guard Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.) continued her strong play as she scored 17 points, dished out a season-high six assists and grabbed six rebounds. Junior Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) added a game-high 18 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field while Tina Bolte (Columbus, Ind./North H.S.) scored a season-high 14 points and Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) chipped in 11 points.
The Cardinals (3-0) came out of the gate and battled Howard back-and-forth for the first eight minutes as they held just a two-point lead at 15-13. Ball State took the game and the momentum over with a 28-6 run over the ensuing seven-plus minutes of action.
The Cardinals used a balanced attack during the spurt as four players scored at least five points each. DeMuth led the charge with nine points in the run, including a three-pointer that ignited the attack. Ball Stated went into the locker room with a 48-26 lead as BSU shot 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the field. The Cardinal defense held Howard to just nine field goals in the opening frame and forced the Lady Bison into 13 first half turnovers.
Ball State slammed the door shut in the second half as it opened the half on a 35-8 run to take a 83-36 lead in the game. Bolte was the spark in the second half as she nailed three three-pointers in the run while DeMuth added seven points in the spurt. Corbin chipped in five points as did sophomore guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington H.S.) as BSU put the game out of reach.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 31-of-61 (50.8 percent) from the field and connected on 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from three-point land. BSU also went to the line 29 times in the game as they connected on 20 free throws in the 45-point victory.
Howard (0-6) was paced by Christina Aden who scored nine points while Morgan Neal added eight points off of the bench. The Lady Bison finished the afternoon shooting just 27.9 percent (17-of-61) from the field and committed 23 turnovers.
Bolte finished with four three-pointers off of the bench while McDonald connected on three from long-range. Green again had another strong all-around performance as she finished with nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in 30 minutes of action.
The 92 points scored by Ball State is the most for the Cardinals since they scored 93 points in a victory over IPFW in the 2003-04 season. The 45-point victory by the Cardinals is their largest victory since a 45-point victory over Olivet Nazarene in the 1998-99 season and the largest in Roller's tenure. The victory is the largest against a Division I team since a 49-point victory over Chicago State in the 1977-78 season.
The Cardinals are now in a multi-day midseason tournament championship game for the fifth straight season. BSU has won a championship the past four seasons, including the BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament last season.
The Cardinals will look for their second straight BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament title on Sunday afternoon as they face IPFW, who defeated Coastal Carolina in game two of the tournament. The championship game is set for a
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