Women?s Basketball Freezes Buffalo, 59-44

Buffalo, N.Y. ? The Ball State women's basketball team matched its win total from last season with its 17^th victory on a wintry Saturday evening as the Cardinals downed Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo, 59-44, at Alumni Arena. The Cardinals' defense held Buffalo to just 16 field goals and 34 percent shooting from the field as BSU improves to 17-3 overall on the season and 8-1 in MAC action.

“We were really aggressive on the defensive end today. Our defense carried us until our offense was able to heat up in the second half,” head coach Tracy Roller said. “We got some great minutes from Porchia (Green) today. We made some clutch free throws down the stretch and came up with some big rebounds in the second half.”

The Cardinals had four players score in double figures in the victory including a game-high 14 points from senior Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.). Corbin was five-of-seven from the field and a perfect four-of-four from the free throw line in the victory.

Sophomore guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington H.S.) recorded her fourth double-double of the season as she scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. She finished the night six-of-eight from the charity stripe, all in the second half.

Both teams came out cold to start the game as the Cardinals connected on just nine-of-29 (31%) from the floor in the first half while Buffalo was just six-of-23 (26.1%) from the field. The teams traded baskets in the first half with the Bulls holding a 12-10 lead with seven minutes remaining.

The Cardinals closed the first half on a 9-2 run to head into the locker room with a 19-14 lead. Senior guard Tina Bolte (Columbus, Ind./North H.S.) started the run with the Cardinals' only three-pointer of the half and Corbin capped the run with a jumped as the clock expired. The 14-point first half effort by the Bulls is the lowest first half output that the BSU defense has held an opponent to this season.

The Cardinals came out of the break and started to have shots fall for them as they posted a 9-3 run to take a 28-17 lead just four minutes into the half. Freshman guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) started the run with her first three-pointer of the game while Corbin again nailed a jumper in transition to cap the run.

Buffalo (6-15, 1-8 MAC) battled back and scored nine straight points to pull within two points at 28-26. McDonald again came through with a big basket as she nailed another three-pointer to give the Cardinals some breathing room.

Ball State increased its lead back to double digits as it posted an 8-2 run to take a 48-37 lead. Junior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) keyed the spurt with an old-fashioned three-point play and junior Lisa Rusche added a basket in transition.

The Cardinals slammed the door shut for the final time as they closed the game on an 11-2 run in the final 3:49 of the game. BSU was clutch from the charity stripe as it connected on nine-of-10 in the final three-plus minutes to seal the victory. The Cardinals finished the game 14-of-17 (82.4%) from the free throw line in the game, all coming in the second half.

Ball State finished the night 21-of-56 (37.5%) from the field after shooting 44.4 percent (12-of-27) in the second half. The Cardinals' defense forced Buffalo into 23 turnovers and recorded 14 steals in the victory. All five starters for the Cardinals' recorded at least two thefts on the night, including a career-high four steals from junior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills H.S.).

Rusche also finished just shy of a double-double as she scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She connected on five-of-10 from the field in the victory, including three-of-four in the second half. DeMuth added 12 points as she was four-of-seven from the field and four-of-five from the charity stripe. She also added six rebounds and three steals for the Cardinals.

The 44 points scored by Buffalo is the lowest output of the season for a Ball State opponent and the lowest that BSU has held an opponent to since it held Northern Illinois to 41 points in the 2004-05 season.

The 17 victories matches the Cardinals' win total from last season (17-14), just 20 games into the season. The 17 victories are also tied for the fourth most in a single season in BSU history while the 8-1 start in MAC play is tied for the best conference start in program history with the 2001-02 season.

The Cardinals will be back in action on Wednesday night as they travel to 17^th ranked Bowling Green. The game is a match-up of the two Mid-American Conference Divisional leaders as the Cardinals own an 8-1 mark to lead the West Division while BGSU has an 8-0 mark to lead the East Division. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Tina Bolte

Kelsey Corbin

Julie DeMuth

Porchia Green

Audrey McDonald