Ball State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts MAC Leader Saturday
February 09, 2006 | Women's Basketball
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE:
Arena (Seating Capacity) Worthen Arena (11,500)
Tip-off 3 p.m.
Television none
Webcast WCRD FM 91.3 and WXFN 1340 AM
Series Bowling Green leads 35-12
RADIO COVERAGE: The BSU-Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green contest . . . All tournament games will also be carried by the station . . . Kevin Lee will do play-by-play for this game . . . He is in his fifth season as part of the team . . . Jay Garrison, who is in his fourth season, will provide the color commentary against BGSU . . . 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 2.3 rpg 1.1 apg 27.9 mpg
11 Kelsey Corbin G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 9.0 ppg 3.6 rpg 4.0 apg 26.4 mpg
52 Becca Bajorek C 6-2 Jr./Jr. 6.1 ppg 3.4 rpg 0.3 bpg 16.9 mpg
23 Erica Cotton G 5-8 Sr./Jr. 6.9 ppg 2.9 rpg 1.9 apg 23.7 mpg
14 Julie DeMuth G 5-10 So./So. 12.4 ppg 9.4 rpg 2.1 spg 27.6 mpg
OFF THE BENCH:
2 Stephanie Douglas G 5-9 Jr./Jr. 5.3 ppg 1.9 rpg 0.7 spg 13.0 mpg
3 Porchia Green G 5-8 Fr./Fr. 3.1 ppg 2.7 rpg 1.1 spg 14.0 mpg
12 Kiley Jarrett G 5-4 Fr./Fr. 3.9 ppg 1.7 rpg 3.3 apg 18.9 mpg
13 Raechelle Hampton C 6-2 Sr./Sr. 7.4 ppg 4.6 rpg 0.9 spg 24.9 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. 2.6 ppg 2.8 rpg 0.4 bpg 11.3 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 13-8 overall and in third place in the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 6-4 mark . . . The Cardinals saw their modest three-game winning streak snapped with a 68-55 loss at Kent State Wednesday . . . Julie DeMuth tops the team with 12.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game . . . Tina Bolte is second in scoring with her 10.8 average, while Raechelle Hampton is second in rebounding with 4.6 per game . . . Kelsey Corbin is dishing off a BSU-best 4.0 assists each game . . . BSU averages 67.2 points and 37.9 rebounds, while yielding 66.3 points and 39.2 rebounds to its opponents.
INJURY UPDATE: There are no injuries to report.
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: Bowling Green is 19-2 overall and perfect in 10 MAC games . . . The Falcons, who rank 27th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, are the defending MAC regular season and tournament champions and favored to repeat in both this season . . . Ali Mann tops a group of four players averaging in double figures with her 14.9 points per game . . . Liz Honegger is second at 13.4, Carin Horne third with a 12.0 average and Kate Achter fourth with 11.6 points per game . . . Honegger and Mann were second-team all-league selections last season, while Horne earned honorable mention and Achter all-freshman honors . . . BG averages 69.6 points and 37.7 rebounds, while giving up 57 points and 35.8 rebounds to its opponents . . . The Falcons are first in the MAC in scoring margin (+12.6), blocked shots (3.8), assists (14.5), turnover margin (+6.6), assist/turnover ratio (1.08) and 3-pt. field goals (6.0).
BALL STATE VS. BOWLING GREEN: Bowling Green boasts a 35-12 all-time advantage in the series, which began with a 58-52 Ball State win March 7, 1975 . . . Four of the games between the teams have been decided in overtime, including multiple overtimes twice . . . The Cardinals picked up five of their wins over the first eight seasons of matchups versus BGSU . . . The Falcons posted a dominating 26-4 advantage -- including a string of 12 at one point -- from 1987 through 1999 . . . From there, BSU won four straight before the Falcons were victorious in the last two meetings . . . The Cardinals have won nine of the 23 games versus Bowling Green played in Muncie.
MEMORABLE MATCHUP: Ball State and Bowling Green tied a then NCAA Division I record with a four overtime affair Jan. 6, 1999, marking the longest game in BSU history . . . In that contest, the Falcons escaped Muncie with a 106-105 victory.
LAST TIME: Ball State fell victim to a Hoosier Homecoming for Bowling Green sophomore Liz Honegger of Lafayette, as she scored a career-high 27 points plus pulled down nine rebounds to lead her team to the 69-49 victory . . . The 49 points was the third-lowest output of the season for BSU . . . The game was hotly contested for the first seven minutes, but BG built a double-digit lead with 5:41 left in the first period . . . The Falcons opened the first half on a 15-0 run and never looked back in earning the road win . . . Kate Endress led BSU with 17 points, while Tina Bolte chipped in with 10 . . . The Cardinals were held to a cool 27 (17-of-64) percent from the field, while their visitors shot nearly 50 percent (30-of-63) . . . Besides Honegger's 27 points, Ali Mann added 14.
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 14 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 seven 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 campaign . . . She made her first start of the season Wednesday at Kent State . . . Bajorek was a starter in 17 of the 28 games she played last season.
COTTON TALE: Erica Cotton has made great strides since moving into Ball State's starting lineup Dec. 10 at Butler . . . Over the 15-game span, she is averaging 8.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game . . . Cotton, a senior academically and a junior eligibility-wise, has tallied six 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 four times and is averaging 10.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 10 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 15 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 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 . . . DeMuth has 16 double-digit rebounding marks in her career and has led BSU in that category a total of 26 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.
CORBIN TOP SERVER: Kelsey Corbin ranks first for Ball State and sixth 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 nine 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: Freshman 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 12th in the MAC with 3.3 assists per game.
IN MAC GAMES: Four players are averaging double-figure scoring marks in Ball State's 10 MAC games -- Julie DeMuth at 12.8, Erica Cotton at 10.8, Kelsey Corbin at 10.3 and Tina Bolte also at 10.3 . . . DeMuth and Cotton rank 14th and 24th, respectively, in scoring in league games only . . . Corbin and Bolte tie for 28th . . . DeMuth tops the team with a league-best 9.9 rebounding average . . . Corbin is dishing off 3.9 assists per game.
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 50-17 in home games over the last six campaigns for a .746 rate of success . . . BSU, which is 7-2 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.
GAME TIME VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: Ball State's game against Western Michigan is slated for a 7 p.m. starting time Feb. 18 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.
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.
