Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Takes Home BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament Championship
November 26, 2006 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State women's basketball team took home the BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament championship for the second straight season as the Cardinals rallied past IPFW, 73-62, in the championship game on Sunday afternoon at Worthen Arena. The championship marked the fifth straight season in which the Cardinals have taken home a midseason tournament title.
"This was a total team effort as we controlled the game on both ends of the floor in the second half to allow our comeback," head coach Tracy Roller said. "We wanted to protect our home court and our home tournament for our seniors and we were able accomplish that with the resiliency we showed."
Junior Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) earned tournament Most Valuable Player accolades as she scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. This is the second straight season in which DeMuth has garnered MVP honors in the Cardinals' home tournament. She scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the two games this weekend.
The Cardinals (4-0) came out of the gate slow in the first half and fell behind early as they shot just eight-of-24 (33.3%) from the field in the half. Ball State pulled within 18-15 with five minutes left in the first half as sophomore Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington H.S.) drained a three-pointer.
IPFW (3-2) answered as it took its largest lead of the afternoon with an 11-5 run to go ahead, 29-20. DeMuth hit a pair of free throws to narrow the deficit to seven points heading into the locker room. IPFW connected on 12-of-24 from the field in the first half as it slowed the Cardinal attack down.
Ball State responded to the adversity in typical fashion as they opened the second half with a 13-0 run to take the lead for good. Freshman guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) spurred the run as she scored seven points in a
The Cardinals received a big boost off of the bench in the second half as senior center Becca Bajorek (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales H.S.) scored 10 points during an
"Becca was definitely our unsung hero tonight," Roller said. "She was a game-time decision because of an illness but she played through that and was a huge part of our victory. One of the great things about our team is that we have so many different players that can step up on any given night."
Ball State slammed the door shut on IPFW with a 14-5 run that gave BSU a 13-point lead. The Cardinals were clutch from the free throw line down the stretch as they connected on 17-of-22 (77.3%) from the charity stripe in the final six minutes of the game.
The Cardinals shot 14-of-25 (56%) from the field in the second half while holding IPFW to just 13-of-32 (40.6%) from the field. BSU attacked in the second half and went to the free throw line 26 times as they connected on 20 free throws. The Cardinal defense came up with 12 steals as DeMuth and Bajorek each tallied three steals apiece.
Green continued her stellar all-around play as she finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot on a three-pointer late in the game. McDonald shrugged off a scoreless first half to score 10 second half points in the victory.
Rusche picked up All-Tournament honors as she almost tallied her second consecutive double-double to finish with eight points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.) also earned All-Tournament accolades as she finished with six points and five rebounds. In the tournament, she averaged 11.5 points, 5.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. She also became just the sixth player in BSU history to reach the 300-assist mark in a career.
IPFW was led by All-Tournament members Ashley Johnson and Johnna Lewis-Carlisle who finished with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cardinals will hit the road in the month of December for seven straight road games starting with a December 2 meeting at Butler as part of the Hoosier Classic. The game is slated for a
All-Tournament Team
Lisa Rusche, Ball State
Kelsey Corbin, Ball State
Ashley Johnson, IPFW
Johnna Lewis-Carlisle, IPFW
Alisha Dill, Coastal Carolina
Tournament Most Valuable Player
Julie DeMuth, Ball State
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