Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts Toledo Wednesday in Key Matchup
February 14, 2006 | Women's Basketball
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE:
Arena (Seating Capacity) Worthen Arena (11,500)
Tip-off 7 p.m.
Television Ball State Sports Network
Webcast WCRD FM 91.3 and WXFN 1340 AM
Series Toledo leads 41-11
TELEVISION: The BSU-Toledo game is the final of a two-game television package provided by the Ball State Sports Network . . . The game will be shown live on WIPB Muncie, Channel 2 . . . Wil Hampton -- BSU alum, Muncie native and current sports anchor at RTV6 -- will handle play-by-play duties, while former Cardinals player Julie Just will provide color commentary . . . In addition, Michael Towne will serve as the sideline reporter.
RADIO COVERAGE: The BSU-Toledo contest will be broadcast live by WCRD FM 91.3 . . . BSU's student-run station will carry 26 regular-season games plus all postseason competition . . . Sports director Nathan Rausch is in his second full season as a part of the broadcast team and will handle play-by-play duties this year . . . Joel Nickels will provide color commentary, while Kyle Trompeter will do sideline reporting . . . The WCRD broadcasts can be heard via the internet at the official web site of Ball State athletics: www.ballstatesports.com.
MORE RADIO: Besides the 26-game WCRD package, Ball State will have 15 regular-season games carried by Muncie's WXFN 1340 AM, including the Toledo contest . . . All tournament games will also be carried by the station . . . Jay Garrison, who is in his fourth season, will call the game against the Rockets . . . When scheduled, the WXFN broadcasts can be heard via the internet at www.ballstatesports.com or www.yahoo.com.
BALL STATE PROBABLE STARTERS:
1 Tina Bolte G 5-7 Jr./Jr. 10.8 ppg 2.2 rpg 1.1 apg 28.0 mpg
11 Kelsey Corbin G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 8.7 ppg 3.5 rpg 4.0 apg 26.4 mpg
52 Becca Bajorek C 6-2 Jr./Jr. 6.4 ppg 4.0 rpg 0.4 bpg 18.0 mpg
23 Erica Cotton G 5-8 Sr./Jr. 7.3 ppg 3.0 rpg 1.9 apg 24.1 mpg
14 Julie DeMuth G 5-10 So./So. 11.8 ppg 9.4 rpg 2.1 spg 27.0 mpg
OFF THE BENCH:
2 Stephanie Douglas G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 5.1 ppg 1.9 rpg 0.6 spg 12.7 mpg
3 Porchia Green G 5-8 Fr./Fr. 2.9 ppg 2.7 rpg 1.1 spg 13.6 mpg
12 Kiley Jarrett G 5-4 Fr./Fr. 3.8 ppg 1.6 rpg 3.1 apg 18.6 mpg
13 Raechelle Hampton C 6-2 Sr./Sr. 7.7 ppg 4.6 rpg 0.9 spg 24.8 mpg
25 Dana Moorman F 6-0 Fr./Fr. 0.3 ppg 0.4 rpg 0.0 apg 4.0 mpg
42 Lisa Rusche F 6-1 So./So. 2.5 ppg 3.0 rpg 0.4 bpg 11.4 mpg
44 Brandy Ross F 6-1 So./So. 1.3 ppg 1.2 rpg 0.2 apg 7.8 mpg
SCOUTING BALL STATE: Ball State is 13-9 overall and in third place in the Mid-American Conference West Division at 6-5 . . . The Cardinals, who are in the midst of a three-game home stand, are led by Julie DeMuth's 11.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game . . . DeMuth places first in the MAC in rebounding . . . Tina Bolte is second in scoring with her 10.8 average, while Raechelle Hampton is second with 4.6 rebounds each game . . . Kelsey Corbin is dishing off a BSU-best 4.0 assists per game . . . The Cardinals average 66.9 points and 38.2 rebounds per outing, while surrendering 66.5 points and 39.1 rebounds to their opponents.
SCOUTING TOLEDO: Toledo is 9-12 overall and in sixth place in the MAC's West Division with a 4-7 mark . . . Danielle Bishop, a preseason all-league selection, tops the team with her 14.5 points per game . . . Savannah Werner is second in scoring with a 10.4 average plus ties for first in rebounding -- along with Jasmine House -- at 5.5 per game . . . The Rockets average 65.3 points and 35.3 rebounds a game, while yielding 66.4 points and 38.0 rebounds to their opponents..
BALL STATE VS. TOLEDO: Ball State and Toledo have met 52 times in a series originating with a 63-47 BSU win Jan. 3, 1981 . . . The Rockets boast a 41-11 advantage . . . The Cardinals have won six of the 25 games against Toledo played in Muncie.
LAST TIME: Toledo held onto an 83-79 overtime victory over Ball State to open the 2006 MAC schedule Jan. 7 at Savage Hall . . . The Cardinals started slow, but ended the game in a fury to force the extra period . . . BSU scored first, but it was the only time the Cardinals would lead in regulation . . . After trailing by nine points, Kelsey Corbin hit a layup to send the game into overtime . . . Julie DeMuth scored a season-high 24 points to lead the Cardinals . . . Corbin added 20 points, while Raechelle Hampton and Erica Cotton chipped in with 11 each . . . DeMuth pulled down 13 boards . . . Savannah Werner and Danielle Bishop led the Rockets with 19 points each.
WELCOME BACK: Four people with Ball State ties -- three of them alum -- return to Muncie Wednesday . . . Toledo assistant coach Duffy Burns is a 1985 graduate and served two years as assistant coach at his alma mater . . . UT assistant athletic trainer Sara McGriff is a 2002 graduate of BSU . . . Toledo assistant coach Stephanie White served, along with Burns, on the Cardinals' staff in 2003-04 . . . Wil Hampton, sports anchor at RTV6 in Indianapolis, returns to his hometown and alma mater to serve as the play-by-play analyst for the Ball State Sports Network telecast of the game.
BSU CAPTAINS: Juniors Tina Bolte and Kelsey Corbin plus sophomore Julie DeMuth are tri-captains of the 2005-06 squad . . . Corbin is in her second season as a captain for the Cardinals . . . All three players were regular starters on last season's team, which posted a 16-13 overall mark and an 11-5 MAC slate.
BALANCED BALL STATE: Ball State has had at least three players score in double figures in 15 games thus far . . . Four players reached double digits for the seventh time at Ohio Jan. 31 . . . BSU also accomplished the feat versus Evansville Nov. 22, against Butler Dec. 9, at Santa Clara Dec. 31, at Toledo Jan. 7, at Western Michigan Jan. 11 and at Miami Jan. 25 . . . In the Toledo game, two of the four players -- Julie DeMuth (24) and Kelsey Corbin (20) scored 20 or more points . . . Five hit the double-digit plateau against North Dakota State Nov. 27 . . . All 11 players who dressed against Lipscomb scored at least three points.
BECCA'S BACK: After missing the first 14 games of the season due to a hip injury, junior Becca Bajorek has played in each of Ball State's past eight games . . . She made her first appearance of the campaign against Eastern Michigan Jan. 18 . . . Bajorek entered the game at the 17:06 mark in the second half and took just 49 seconds to score her first basket of the year . . . She made her first start of the season last Wednesday at Kent State and then her second Saturday versus Bowling Green . . . As a starter, she is averaging 7.0 points and 5.0 rebounds . . . Bajorek started 17 games last season.
COTTON TALE: Erica Cotton has made great strides since moving into Ball State's starting lineup Dec. 10 at Butler . . . Over the 16-game span, she is averaging 8.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game . . . Cotton, a senior academically and a junior eligibility-wise, has tallied seven double-digit scoring marks during the stretch, including a career-high 19-point effort versus Akron Jan. 28 . . . She has led the team in scoring five times and is averaging 11.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 11 MAC games.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Sophomore Julie DeMuth is leading Ball State for the second-straight year in rebounding . . . She is averaging a MAC-best 9.4 per game . . . She has led BSU in rebounding 16 times this season . . . She has posted a MAC-leading eight double-doubles in 2005-06 for a total of 11 in her career . . . DeMuth had 14 points and 10 boards against Valparaiso Dec. 4 after 19 points and 14 rebounds versus Illinois State Nov. 30 . . . She had 11 points and 13 rebounds vs. North Dakota State Nov. 27 . . . Her fourth double-double came Dec. 31 with 17 points and 14 rebounds at Santa Clara . . . Her fifth included a season-high 24 points 13 rebounds at Toledo Jan. 7 and her sixth ended with 10 points and 13 rebounds at Miami Jan. 25 . . . She totaled 18 points and 11 boards at Ohio Jan. 31 for her seventh . . . Her latest double-double came with 12 points and 18 rebounds at Kent State last Wednesday . . . The 18 rebounds ties her career high achieved last season versus KSU and ties for the fifth-best effort on BSU's single-game charts . . . It is also the best single-game effort in the MAC this season . . . DeMuth has 16 double-digit rebounding marks in her career and has led BSU in that category a total of 27 times . . . She also boasts 20 double-figure scoring efforts.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE/DOUBLE-DOUBLE: In its Dec. 31 game against Santa Clara, Ball State dominated the boards accumulating a season-high 54 . . . For the first time this season, BSU had two players tally double-doubles in the game -- Julie DeMuth and Raechelle Hampton . . . DeMuth had a game-high 17 points versus the Broncos plus pulled down 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the campaign . . . Hampton snared a career-high and game-leading 15 missed shots plus added 14 points for her first career double-double.
FROM THE BENCH: Ball State got 20 points off the bench in Saturday's loss to Bowling Green . . . Raechelle Hampton came in to contribute 14 scores, marking her eighth double-figure scoring effort of the campaign . . . Lisa Rusche snared a career-high seven rebounds in 15 minutes of action versus the Falcons.
CORBIN TOP SERVER: Kelsey Corbin ranks first for Ball State and eighth in the MAC with 4.0 assists per game . . . She accumulated the third double-digit assist total of her career with 11 at Western Michigan Jan. 11 . . . She added 14 points against the Broncos to notch her second career double-double . . . Corbin tallied the second double-digit assist total of her career with 10 in BSU's opener against Murray State . . . Her 11 dishes versus Western Michigan ties her career high achieved against Miami March 10, 2004 . . . Corbin, who scored a season-high 20 points Jan. 7 at Toledo, has led the Cardinals in assists 10 times this season . . . In addition, she owns 10 double-figure scoring efforts in 2005-06 and a total of 22 in her career.
PETITE DISH: Kiley Jarrett accumulated the second double-digit assist mark of her career with 10 at Wright State Dec. 17 . . . BSU's shortest player at 5-foot-4, Jarrett dished off a team season-high 11 versus Evansville Nov. 22 . . . She is currently second on the team and 14th in the MAC with 3.1 assists per game.
IN MAC GAMES: Three players are averaging double-figure scoring marks in Ball State's 11 MAC games -- Julie DeMuth at 11.6, Erica Cotton at 11.3 and Tina Bolte at 10.4 . . . DeMuth, Cotton and Bolte rank 22nd, 23rd and 28th, respectively, in scoring in league games only . . . DeMuth tops the team with a league-best 9.8 rebounding average . . . Corbin is dishing off 3.8 assists per game.
GAME TIME VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: Ball State's game against Western Michigan is slated for a 7 p.m. starting time Saturday at Worthen Arena . . . The time was not determined until the men's bracket buster pairings were announced earlier this week . . . BSU's men will host Tennessee State at 4 p.m. the same day . . . At halftime of the women's contest, Ball State female student-athletes who competed in their respective sports prior to 1985 will be recognized.
ROSTER UPDATE: Senior Krista Stewart has left the Ball State women's basketball program for personal reasons.
RECORD START: Ball State's 5-0 start to this season marked the best in school history . . . The five wins surpassed the 4-0 start of Brenda (Oldfield) Frese's 1999-2000 team . . . Four of the wins came in the friendly confines of Worthen Arena . . . Ball State's 6-1 start to the 2005-06 campaign has been bettered by just one other team in the 32-year history of women's basketball at the university . . . The 1975-76 squad began its campaign with a 7-1 record, before eventually finishing with a 13-6 mark.
WONDERFUL WORTHEN: Ball State is 50-18 in home games over the last six campaigns for a .735 rate of success . . . BSU, which is 7-3 in home contests this season, finished with an 8-5 mark at home in 2004-05 after a 6-5 slate during the 2003-04 season . . . BSU posted a 7-2 record at Worthen Arena in 2002-03, dropping two games by a combined total of nine points . . . With its first-round WNIT victory over Louisville March 13, 2002, Ball State finished with a program record 13-1 mark at Worthen Arena in 2001-02 . . . The previous best home record was the 2000-01 team's 9-2 ledger.
TV SCHEDULE SET: Ball State has a two-game television package this season with the Ball State Sports Network -- Jan. 14 vs. Central Michigan and Feb. 15 against Toledo . . . The Cardinals will also appear twice on Comcast Local -- Jan. 18 against Eastern Michigan and again Feb. 28 versus Northern Illinois . . . In addition, BSU's game at Ohio Jan. 31 was televised by FSN Ohio.
MAC PRESEASON POLL: In the 2005-06 MAC News Media Association Preseason Poll, Ball State was picked to finish third in the West Division . . . Eastern Michigan was tabbed as the favorite in the West with 132 points, including 20 first-place votes . . . Western Michigan was second (99), followed by BSU (86), Toledo (83), Northern Illinois (44) and Central Michigan (39) . . . Bowling Green, the 2005 MAC Tournament and regular-season champs, is the favorite in its division with 132 points, including 17 first-place tallies . . . Kent State was second (117), followed by Miami (93), Ohio (68), Buffalo (40) and Akron (33) . . . BGSU, which move back to the East Division at the advent of this school year, is the favorite to win the tournament with 15 points, followed by Kent State with five, Eastern Michigan with four and Western Michigan with one point.
FORMIDABLE FOE: When Ball State traveled to Duke Dec. 19, it faced a squad that was picked No. 1 in The Associated Press Preseason Poll and No. 2 in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Poll . . . Duke, which currently ranks No. 1 in both polls, finished last season with a 31-5 overall record and ranked 7/8, respectively, in the final polls . . . When the Blue Devils visited Muncie Dec. 20, 2004, they were the No. 3 ranked team in the nation.
DEMUTH GARNERS MAC AWARD: Julie DeMuth was honored for the first time in her career with her selection as Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week Dec. 5 . . . She gained the award after averaging 16.5 points and 12 rebounds over a two-game span . . . DeMuth notched her second and third-straight double-doubles of the season -- the fifth and sixth of her career -- with 19 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Illinois State Nov. 30 and then 14 points and 10 boards in a loss versus Valparaiso Dec. 4.
THE TRACY ROLLER SHOW: The Tracy Roller Show takes place each Monday night from 6 - 7 p.m. at Johnny Carino's in Muncie . . . The show, in its second season, is carried live on WCRD -- BSU's student-run radio station . . . Nathan Rausch, Joel Nickels and Kyle Trompeter host the show, which can be heard live on the web at www.ballstatesports.com.
BSU CAPTURES CLASSIC: BSU captured the championship of the first-ever Ball State Credit Union Classic Nov. 26-27 . . . BSU trounced Lipscomb 83-53 in the semifinals and then defeated North Dakota State 65-54 to win the title . . . The Cardinals averaged 74 points, 43 rebounds and 13 steals a game, while holding their opponents to 53.5 points, 35 rebounds and a cool .352 (38-of-108) field goal percentage . . . BSU also forced its two opponents into 47 turnovers . . . Julie DeMuth was selected as the classic's Most Valuable Player, while Kelsey Corbin were named to the all-tournament team . . . With its championship in the Classic, the Cardinals have captured non-conference tournament titles in each of the past four seasons -- all under head coach Tracy Roller and are 11-5 record in non-conference tournament competition.
HOME GROWN: Ball State's 2005-06 roster boasts five players from the state of Indiana -- juniors Tina Bolte (Columbus) and Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne), sophomore Julie DeMuth (Merrillville) and freshmen Porchia Green (Indianapolis) and Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington) . . . Bolte, Corbin and DeMuth were all full-time starters last season.
THROUGH MICHIGAN AND OHIO: If not from Indiana, you should look at Detroit, Mich., to find the homes of four more Cardinals -- Erica Cotton, Stephanie Douglas, Raechelle Hampton and Brandy Ross . . . Three more hail from the state of Ohio -- Becca Bajorek (Columbus), Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati) and Dana Moorman (Dayton).
LAST SEASON: Ball State concluded the 2004-05 campaign with a 16-13 overall record and an 11-5 Mid-American Conference mark . . . The Cardinals tied for second place in the West Division and earned the No. 5 seed in the MAC Tournament . . . The fifth-seeded Cardinals hosted 12th-seeded Akron in the first round and posted a 77-52 victory . . . In quarterfinal action at Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, BSU's season was ended with a 72-64 loss at the hands of fourth-seeded Eastern Michigan.
IT'S ACADEMIC: The fall 2005 fall grading period marked the fifth-straight semester the Ball State women's basketball team has combined for a better than 3.00 grade-point average . . . The 13-member squad tallied a 3.09 GPA for the term . . . The team posted a 3.10 for the 2005 spring semester, a 3.02 for the 2004 fall semester, a 3.18 GPA for the 2004 spring semester and a 3.30 GPA for the 2003 fall semester . . . The 2005-06 team boasts an overall cumulative GPA of 3.07 with nine members netting 3.0 or higher marks . . . Kelsey Corbin tops the squad with a 3.69 cumulative GPA, followed by Tina Bolte at 3.49, Dana Moorman at 3.48, Becca Bajorek at 3.40, Lisa Rusche at 3.22, Raechelle Hampton at 3.16, Brandy Ross at 3.15, Julie DeMuth at 3.10 and Kiley Jarrett at 3.0.
THREE SIGN EARLY: Head coach Tracy Roller inked three players during the early signing period -- Indiana guards Kyleigh Jones (Elwood, Ind./Elwood H.S.) and Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) plus post player Kalynne Proctor (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Regina H.S.) . . . Jones and McDonald are both Super Senior 25 preseason picks by Regional Roundball.
