MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State women's basketball team used a strong second half closing run and junior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) turned in a stellar performance as the Cardinals downed Mid-American Conference West Division rival Eastern Michigan 71-64 on Tuesday night at Worthen Arena. The victory improves the Cardinals to 3-0 in MAC play and gives them sole possession of the top spot in the West Division.
“I am very happy with the resiliency that we showed tonight,” acting head coach Lisa McDonald said. “We stepped up in key moments and had an answer for their run late in the game to secure the victory.”
Green, a preseason All-MAC selection, led the Cardinals with a season-high 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. She connected on eight-of-14 from the field and was a perfect four-of-four from the charity stripe. She was two-of-three from three-point land, including a crucial three-pointer with 39 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game.
Senior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) turned in another strong effort as she fell just shy of a double-double. She scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, five on the offensive end. She was six-of-seven from the free throw line as Ball State finished the game shooting 87 percent (20-of-23) from the charity stripe in the game.
“Tonight was another great team victory,” McDonald said. “Julie showed a lot of toughness tonight and Porchia was clutch, especially at the end of the game. Also, Kiley did a great job defensively all game long and her leadership in the second half was crucial as we battled back.”
Ball State (7-9, 3-0 MAC) came out of the gate on fire to start the game as it ran out to an 18-1 lead just seven minutes in. The Cardinals scored the first 12 points of the game as Eastern Michigan was held without a point for almost five minutes. The Cardinals started the game hitting seven of their first 13 shots, while EMU conversely started the game missing its first 12 shots from the field.
Green keyed the early spurt as she scored seven quick points, including a three-pointer to start the Cardinals' scoring. Senior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) also contributed early as she scored on back-to-back possessions.
Eastern Michigan (8-7, 2-1 MAC) battled back and posted an 11-4 run to pull within 10 at 22-12 and force a Ball State timeout. After the Cardinals score on two straight possessions, the Eagles posted an 18-6 run to pull within two points at 32-30 with 2:35 remaining in the half.
The Cardinals closed the half on a 6-2 run to go into the locker room with a 38-32 lead. The quick spurt was closed at the buzzer as freshman guard Shannon Klei (Coldspring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) hit a deep fade-away three-pointer as time expired to send the crowd of 1,485 fans into a frenzy.
Ball State finished the first half shooting 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from the field, despite hitting only 18.2 percent (two-of-11) from three-point land. The Cardinals were eight-of-10 from the charity stripe to negate the long range shooting. Eastern Michigan connected on 34.3 percent (12-of-35) from the field and hit five-of-15 (33.3%) from long range.
Eastern Michigan came out of the halftime break and scored the first nine points of the second half to take its first lead of the game at 41-38. The Cardinals regrouped as freshman forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) started to get things going in the second half. Maggert scored all nine of her points in the second half, including six points in a two minute stretch.
The two teams battled back-and-forth with big basket after big basket for most of the second half. Junior guard Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North) gave the Cardinals a 54-53 lead with 9:40 remaining as she scored on a reverse lay-up. The Eagles scored five quick points, including reserve guard Amanda Compton's sixth three-pointer of the game, to take a 58-54 lead.
The Cardinals regrouped and closed the game on a 17-6 run over the final eight-plus minutes to secure the victory. DeMuth gave the Cardinals a kick start as she converted an old-fashioned three-point play to knot the score up at 58-58. EMU answered with a basket to take its final lead of the night before Green and Rusche scored on back-to-back possessions. Rusche's basket came on a fast break as she stole the ball at half court to get the crowd on its feet.
Ball State took a 66-61 lead with 1:12 remaining after a basket by Green and two free throws from DeMuth. EMU came back down the floor and Compton connected on her seventh three-pointer of the night to narrow the BSU lead to 66-64 with 1:01 left in the game.
The Cardinals came right back down the floor and Green stepped up to nail a huge three-pointer in the corner as she answered the long-range shot of Compton. Green's three-pointer was only the Cardinals' third of the game, but its timing nearly slammed the door shut on the Eagles.
The Cardinal defense stepped up and held EMU without a basket on its last possession and sophomore guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) hit both free throws with 16 seconds left to seal the victory. Ball State's limited the Eagles to just two-of-13 shooting in the final 8:41 of the game to bring home the hard fought victory.
Ball State finished the game shooting 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field and just 18.8 percent (three-of-16) from three-point land. The Cardinals connected on 92.3 percent (12-of-13) of their free throws in the second half on their way to shooting 87 percent for the game from the line.
Eastern Michigan ended the game shooting 36.8 percent (25-of-68) from the field and 32 percent (eight-of-25) from three-point land. The Eagles only went to the foul line nine times in the contest and connected on 66.7 percent.
Ball State was strong on the boards as it dominated the glass with a 46-33 advantage. The plus-13 margin in rebounding is the highest this season for the Cardinals who also recorded 16 offensive boards.
Rusche finished the night with 12 points and six rebounds as she was six-of-12 from the field. Maggert added nine points and seven rebounds as a reserve while Jarrett chipped in seven points and a team-high four assists.
Eastern Michigan was led by Compton who finished the game shooting seven-of-10 from three-point land for a career-high 21 points. Forward Kelly Watts added 16 points and nine rebounds before fouling out of the game with a minute remaining. Cassie Schrock added 15 points for the Eagles in the losing effort.
The Cardinals are now 3-0 in MAC play for the second straight season and just the fifth time in program history. Ball State will be back in action on Saturday night as it hits the road again and faces MAC-West foe Toledo at 7 p.m.
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