MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State women's basketball team clinched the Mid-American Conference West Division championship outright as junior Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) hit two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining to down preseason favorite Eastern Michigan 74-73 Saturday afternoon in front of a BSU record crowd of 4,711 at Worthen Arena on senior day.
“This victory is a huge victory not only for this team but for the entire Ball State Women's Basketball program,” head coach Tracy Roller said. “To win the MAC West Championship on senior day and in front of a record crowd...this is a special day for our program.”
The Cardinals improve to 21-5 overall with the victory and the 21 wins are tied for second most in a single season with the 2002-03 season. Ball State is also 12-3 in MAC action as it clinches just its third West Division title in program history and the first since the 2002-03 season. The 12 MAC wins are also tied for second most in a single season in BSU history.
The crowd of 4,711 is the largest crowd to watch a women's basketball game at Ball State in program history, surpassing the old mark of 4,030 set in 2002 against Toledo. The crowd is also the largest crowd to watch a MAC game this season and the third all-time largest crowd to watch a MAC regular season women's game and the largest since 1996. (5,660 ? Western Michigan at Toledo ? 2/2/96)
“The crowd today was instrumental to our success coming down the stretch and we needed everyone that was there to pull out the victory,” Roller said. “There was electricity in the air in Worthen Arena today and our team fed off of the energy in the closing minutes.”
In the back-and-forth affair that saw 12 lead changes, the Cardinals found themselves trailing the Eagles 70-68 with just over four minutes remaining in the game. BSU turned up the defensive pressure as it forced the Eagles into four turnovers in their final nine possessions of the game. The Cardinals held EMU to just one field goal in the final 5:19 of the game.
The Cardinals were able to feed off of the defense and tied the game at 70-70 with 1:32 remaining in the game. DeMuth hit two free throws for the 10th tie of the game as she out-worked the EMU defenders to get to the line.
Freshman Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) recorded a huge steal at half court on the ensuing EMU possession to keep the Eagles off the board. Junior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills H.S) followed with a clutch play as she nailed a jumper to give the Cardinals a 72-70 lead with 1:08 remaining.
Eastern Michigan (14-14, 9-6 MAC) responded to the deficit as freshman Alyssa Pittman nailed her fifth three-pointer of the afternoon to give the Eagles a 73-72 lead. The Cardinals missed an opportunity to take the lead on the next possession and were forced to foul EMU with 19 seconds remaining. Pittman went to the line and missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the ball back to the Cardinals as DeMuth corralled the pivotal rebound.
After a timeout, senior guard Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.) drove down the baseline and found an open DeMuth who was fouled on a jumper with 3.8 seconds remaining. DeMuth, the single season free throw record holder for the Cardinals, calmly nailed both free throws to give the Cardinals a 74-73 lead. BSU held off a final shot just inside half court to claim the season series sweep of the Eagles for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
The Cardinals finished the game 25-of-50 (50%) shooting from the field and five-of-13 (38.5%) from three-point land. BSU dominated at the charity stripe as it connected on 19-of-22 (86.4%), compared to just four-of-eight (50%) from the Eagles. Eastern Michigan was 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the field and were in position to win due in large part to their long-range shooting at 44 percent (11-of-25).
Ball State used a strong team effort in the victory as five Cardinals scored in double figures. DeMuth paced the attack as she scored a game-high 18 points. She was four-of-eight from the field and nine-of-10 from the free throw line. Rusche turned in another stellar effort with 14 points as she was seven-of-nine from the field.
Senior guard Tina Bolte (Columbus, Ind./North H.S.) continued her strong play as of late as she scored 12 points in her first start of the season. Bolte connected on four-of-eight from three-point land, including three in the first half to pace the long-range attack. Sophomore guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington H.S.) was all over the court as she scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out five assists, recorded three blocks while playing a career-high 38 minutes of action.
Corbin was key to the Cardinals' success as she finished with 12 points and dished out eight assists. She finished four-of-nine from the field and a perfect four-of-four from the charity stripe. She became just the fourth Cardinal all-time to reach 400 career assists in the victory as she now has 407 for her career.
Eastern Michigan also had five players score in double figures as Pittman led the way with 16 points as she was five-of-nine from three-point land but just one-of-three from the charity stripe. Forward Emily Hanley added 13 points while Patrice McKinney chipped in 11 points.
The game was also senior day for the Cardinals as seniors Becca Bajorek (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales H.S.), Tina Bolte and Kelsey Corbin were honored in a post-game ceremony. The three seniors have combined to play in 374 career games for the Cardinals during their careers and have been part of 67 victories at BSU.
The Cardinals will close out the 2006-07 regular season on the road as they travel to MAC West Division rival Northern Illinois on Wednesday night. The game will start at 8 p.m. (ET) and will be the final contest before the 2007 Kraft Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
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