MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State women's basketball team saw its postseason quest come to an end on Monday night as the Cardinals dropped an 85-82 game to SEC foe Kentucky in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) in front of raucous crowd of 3,581 at Worthen Arena. The Cardinals finish the season with a 24-7 overall record, which is the highest winning percentage (.774) in program history.
“If the game was won on heart, we would have come away with the victory,” head coach Tracy Roller said. “This atmosphere tonight was the definition of big-time basketball. Our three seniors have left their mark on this program and have taken Ball State women's basketball to the next level.”
Senior guard Kelsey Corbin (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop H.S.) capped off her stellar career with her fourth career double-double as she scored 17 points and dished out a career-high 13 assists. She connected on four-of-eight from the field and was nine-of-10 from the charity stripe. She finishes her career as the only Cardinal all-time to score 1,000 career points, dish out over 400 assists and grab over 400 rebounds.
Junior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills H.S.) battled through of five-inch height disadvantage on the front line to post her sixth double-double of the season. She scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the strong performance. She connected on 11-of-21 from the field in the loss and recorded three blocked shots.
The Cardinals came out of the gate slowly following their eight-day layoff as Kentucky jumped out to a quick 17-10 lead. Rusche recorded a basket in transition while senior guard Tina Bolte (Columbus, Ind./North H.S.) nailed a three-pointer from the wing to pull BSU within five at 22-17.
Kentucky (20-13) scored seven straight points to take a 29-17 lead with nine minutes remaining in the half as it looked inside to its 6-6 center, Sarah Elliot. After a couple of baskets back-and-forth, the Cardinals ignited the crowd with a 12-2 run to pull within one points at 36-35.
Junior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville H.S.) sparked the run as she scored six quick points with an old-fashioned three-point play and a three-pointer from the top of the arc. DeMuth also made history as she became the 18th player in BSU history to reach 1,000-career points in the spurt. She becomes the first junior since Kate Endress to join the elite company.
Rusche capped the run with back-to-back lay-ups and put the Cardinals on the brink of the lead. Kentucky would not back down as the Wildcats posted a 9-3 run right before half to take a seven-point lead. Corbin pulled BSU within five at 45-40 right before the break as she nailed a pair of free throws.
The Cardinals connected on 15-of-29 (51.7%) from the field in the first half but were just two-of-nine (22.2%) from three-point land. DeMuth was the spark in the first half as she scored 14 points on six-of-eight shooting as the Cardinals got the Wildcats' front line in foul trouble. Corbin added 12 first half points and dished out seven assists in the opening frame.
Kentucky matched the Cardinals' hot shooting as it connected on 16-of-31 (51.6%) from the field, including five-of-10 (50%) from long range. Five different Wildcats scored at least six points in the first half as guard Carly Ormerod paced the attack with nine points and six assists.
Both teams came out of the break like a heavyweight fight as they exchange blows back-and-forth for the first six minutes of the second half. Kentucky made the first big run of the stanza as it turned in a quick 8-2 spurt to take a 64-52 lead with 13 minutes in the game. Jenny Pfeiffer highlighted the run as she hit two three-pointers in a two-minute span.
Ball State showed its heart as it never gave up and battled back to within one point as the Cardinals ran off a 15-4 run. BSU forced two Kentucky timeouts in the four-minute stretch as it narrow the UK margin to 68-67.
Freshman guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo H.S.) started things off as she nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead into single digits. Bolte and sophomore guard Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North H.S.) brought the building to a thunderous roar with back-to-back three pointers and DeMuth forced the second UK timeout with a jumper in transition.
The Wildcats again had an answer for the Cardinals' heart as they responded with a 10-2 run to take a 78-69 lead. The Cardinals would not relent as they battled back with a 13-4 run in the closing minutes to pull within two at 84-82.
The long range shot aided the comeback as McDonald nailed one to start the run and Bolte hit on in the middle. DeMuth also was pivotal down the stretch as she scored four points in the final 20 seconds to give the Cardinals one last shot.
Pfeiffer had an opportunity to ice the game with six seconds remaining but only hit one of two free throws to give the Cardinals one final chance. Ball State was unable to get a game-tying three-point shot off before the buzzer as they fell for just the second time in the last 17 games at home at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals finished the night 31-of-66 (47%) from the field and just seven-of-22 (31.8%) from long range. BSU was strong once again from the charity stripe as it hit 13-of-15 (86.7%). The Cardinals finish the season with a school record 75.9 percent from the charity stripe as well as a school record 506 free throws made.
DeMuth finished the game with 22 points and seven rebounds as she was nine-of-14 from the field and a perfect three-of-three from the line. She finished the season ninth all-time in a season scoring with 491 points, fourth all-time in rebounding at 273 and first all-time in free throws made at 167.
Bolte finished her career with nine points as she was three-of-six from three-point land to finish with 184 career three-pointers. McDonald finished with six points and three assists.
Kentucky connected on 28-of-58 (48.3%) from the field in the victory as it hit seven-of-16 (42.8%) from three-point land. Elliott finished the night with a team-high 18 points as she was nine-of-16 from the field. Ormerod posted a double-double as she scored 13 points and dished out a team-high 11 assists.
The game was the Cardinals third ever appearance in the WNIT and the first since the 2002-03 season. The crowd of 3,581 is the third largest crowd in Ball State history, with two of the top three crowds coming in the past two Cardinal home games.
The Cardinals finish the season with a 24-7 overall record while Kentucky advances in the WNIT to a third round match up at Wisconsin on Thursday night. The game was the final game in the careers of the trio of Cardinal seniors in Kelsey Corbin, Tina Bolte and Becca Bajorek (Columbus, Ohio/St. Francis DeSales H.S). The three seniors have combined to play in 320 games in their careers at Ball State.
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