KALAMAZOO, Mich. ? The Ball State women's basketball team opened Mid-American Conference play in impressive fashion as the Cardinals used a strong second half effort to storm past Western Michigan, 84-70 on Wednesday evening at University Arena. Freshman forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) burst into MAC play with a career-high 24 points, 17 in the second half to lead the Cardinals to victory.
“We came out tonight and play great team basketball, especially in the second half,” acting head coach Lisa McDonald said. “We pushed the ball in the second half and got contributions up and down the lineup. Our team fed off of each other's confidence in the second half and we played with a ton of emotion tonight.”
Maggert finished the game nine-of-10 shooting from the field and score nine straight points for the Cardinals at one point in the second half. She was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds to lead BSU on the boards.
“Emily stepped up tonight and had a great performance finishing from the field,” McDonald said. “She is capable of being one of the top post players in the entire MAC and tonight we were able to see all of her hard work in practice translate to a game-type scenario.”
Junior guard Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North) also set a new career-high as she poured in 19 points, 12 in the second half. She was stellar from long range as she connected on a career-high five-of-seven from three-point land. She finished seven-of-10 from the field in the victory as she surpassed her pervious career-high of 19 points.
Junior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) turned in a phenomenal all-around effort as she fell just short of a triple-double as she scored 15 points, dished a career-high 10 assists and grabbed eight rebounds. She finished the game six-of-12 shooting from the field and became the first Cardinal to reach double figures in assists since former BSU standout Kelsey Corbin's 11-assist effort last season against Kentucky.
The Cardinals (5-9, 1-0 MAC) came out slowly against the Broncos as they fell into a 12-2 hole through the first five minutes. After a BSU timeout, the Cardinals responded with a 9-2 run to pull within three points at 14-11. Senior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) started the spurt with a offensive rebound and put-back. Jarrett hit back-to-back baskets to cap the run.
Western Michigan (3-12, 0-1 MAC) responded with one of its four three-pointers in the first half to extend the lead. The Cardinals spent most of the first half chipping away at the lead as Maggert keyed the early going with seven first half points off of the bench.
The Broncos extended the lead to 31-22 with just under a minute to play with five straight points to force the Cardinals into a timeout. Ball State responded in the final 40 seconds of the first half to close the frame on an 8-0 run to go into the locker room down just one at 31-30.
Jarrett started the run with the Cardinals' lone three-pointer of the half. After a WMU turnover, senior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) scored down low and was fouled. Although she missed the ensuing free throw, the rebound went off of WMU and back to the Cardinals for another shot in the final 10 seconds. Green capped the run with an old-fashioned three-point play with five seconds remaining in the half to pull within one point.
The Cardinals were within one at the break despite only shooting 37.1 percent (13-of-35) from the field and just 14.3 percent (one-of-seven) from three-point land. Western Michigan by contrast connected on 50 percent (13-of-26) from the field and 40 percent (four-of-10) from long range in the opening half.
The Ball State defense forced Western Michigan into 13 first half turnovers as the Cardinals out-scored WMU 10-2 on second chance points. Green, Jarrett and Maggert all led the Cardinals in scoring in the first half with seven points each. Rusche added six points in the balanced scoring attack for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals came out of the break and scored the first two baskets to take their first lead of the game 34-31. DeMuth and Green scored the early baskets as the Cardinals attack from the start of the second half. Western Michigan responded with seven straight points to re-take the lead.
Ball State battled back-and-forth with WMU over the next couple of minutes with Jarrett providing the spark with back-to-back three-pointers. After a BSU timeout, Jarrett nailed her third three-pointer of the half to give Ball State a 49-48 lead. The Broncos though again responded with two quick baskets to take their final lead at 52-50.
The Cardinals answered and broke the game open with 17 straight points on its way to a 20-2 run to take the lead for good. Ball State's run was ignited by three-pointers from freshman guard Shannon Klei (Coldspring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) and sophomore guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo).
Maggert took control of the game as she scored nine straight points in the run as the Cardinals pushed the tempo and fed the ball into the post. She capped the 20-2 run with an old-fashioned three-point play as BSU took a 70-54 lead. The Cardinals slammed the door shut as Jarrett nailed her fourth three-pointer of the half and two more baskets from Maggert as BSU extended its lead to 20 points.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 50 percent (33-of-66) from the field as they connected on 64.5 percent in the second half. Ball State also connected on 46.7 percent (seven-of-15) from three-point land, including six-of-eight in the second half. Western Michigan finished the game shooting 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field and just 29.4 percent (five-of-17) from three-point land.
Rusche became the fourth Cardinal to score in double figures in the victory as she added 10 points. McDonald chipped in six points while DeMuth and Klei each added five points in the overall team effort.
Western Michigan was led by Amanda Parker as she scored 18 points on seven-of-14 shooting. Tiera DeLaHoussaye added 14 points and eight assists in the loss for the Broncos.
The Cardinals will conclude their MAC season opening week on the road Saturday afternoon as they travel to DeKalb, Ill., to battle Northern Illinois. Game time is set for 3 p.m. (ET) at the Convocation Center.
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