Jersey City, N.J. ? The Ball State women's basketball team secured its second tournament championship of the season as the Cardinals knocked off Charlotte, 82-72, on Saturday night at the Yanitelli Center in the SPC Aeropostale Holiday Classic. The Cardinals are 9-2 on the non-conference season marking the best non-conference record in Ball State program history.
The victory is also head coach Tracy Roller's 100th of her career as she has a 100-61 record. Roller is in her sixth season at the helm and is already the all-time winningest coach in Ball State history.
“This is a really good win for our program. We set out this week to capture another championship and we were successful in accomplishing that,” Roller said. “We battled all game long and we responded in the second half with a lot of heart when Charlotte tied the game.”
Junior Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) earned tournament Most Valuable Player accolades as she scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and recorded three steals in the championship game. She posted a double-double in the first game of the tournament with 26 points and 10 rebounds to earn her second MVP honor of the season (BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament).
Sophomore guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington H.S.) picked up her first career All-Tournament honor as she led the Cardinals with a career-high 22 points against the 49ers. Green connected on eight-of-12 from the field as she scored 14 second half points and led the team with seven rebounds.
“Tina (Bolte) and Julie (DeMuth) came up huge for us in the first half to give us the lead from the very beginning,” Roller said. “Porchia (Green) took over in the second half and led us to the victory. Just as we have done all season, we had key contributions up and down the lineup.”
The Cardinals opened the game with a flurry as they scored the first six points of the night and never relinquished the lead. Green got in the scoring column quickly as she scored four points in the first two minutes.
Ball State gave itself some room as it put together a 13-4 run to take a 21-10 lead just eight minutes into the game. Senior guard Tina Bolte (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington H.S.) capped the run as she nailed a three-pointer while DeMuth scored four points in the spurt.
Charlotte (7-6) answered with a 12-5 run of its own to pull within four points at 28-24. The teams battled back and forth with the 49ers pulling within one point before the Cardinals responded to the adversity by scoring the final seven points of the half. DeMuth posted back-to-back baskets and Bolte hit a jumper in transition to send BSU into the locker room ahead, 44-36.
The Cardinals connected on 19-of-31 (61.3%) from the field in the opening frame as DeMuth and Bolte each paved the way with 10 points apiece. Charlotte connected on 15-of-33 (45.5%) from the field in the first half but committed eight turnovers as the 49ers trailed by eight points.
Charlotte opened the second half on a 10-2 run to pull even for the first time since the start of the game at 51-51. Ball State again countered with a run of its own as the Cardinals scored 11 straight points to force a 49er timeout as BSU went ahead, 62-51. Senior Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.) started the run with four points while Green capped off the run with a three-pointer in the half court offense.
The Cardinals kept the 49ers at bay for the final 10 minutes of the game as they had an answer for each Charlotte basket. Ball State sealed the victory from the free throw line for the second straight game as they hit their final six shots from the charity stripe and eight of their last 10 free throws.
The Cardinals finished the game 32-of-55 (58.2%) from the field as they reached the 80-point plateau for the third time this season. Corbin finished the night with 16 points as she was seven-of-10 shooting from the field while Bolte added 13 points on five-of-10 shooting from the field. Freshman Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) added nine points in the victory.
Charlotte was held to just 30-of-69 (43.5%) shooting from the field in the loss and finished eigh-of-21 (38.1%) from three-point land. The 49ers were forced into 22 turnovers on the night as Demuth and Corbin each registered three steals apiece to spearhead the Cardinal defense. Traci Ray led Charlotte with 18 points, all coming on three-pointers.
The Cardinals will be back in action on Wednesday night as they return home to Worthen Arena for the first time since November when they open Mid-American Conference action by hosting Toledo at 7 p.m.
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