MUNCIE, Ind. ? Ball State sophomore guard Audrey McDonald (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) led the Cardinals' high-powered attack with a season-high 20 points as the Cardinals took home an 82-57 victory over visiting Central Michigan on Wednesday night at Worthen Arena in Mid-American Conference action. The victory improves the Cardinals to 4-1 in MAC play and keeps them tied atop of the MAC-West Division standings.
“I am really proud of how we responded from our loss at Toledo,” acting head coach Lisa McDonald said. “We came in and set the tone from the very beginning. We were very focused on playing our game and we turned in 40 minutes of Ball State Basketball tonight.”
Ball State (8-10, 4-1 MAC) shot 54.4 percent (31-of-57) from the field in the victory, including 50 percent (10-of-20) from three-point land. The Cardinals had four players score in double figures and six players score at least eight points in the all-around team victory. Ball State also turned 20 Central Michigan turnovers into 28 points as it got out in transition against the Chippewas.
McDonald came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as she hit her first six three-point attempts in the game to set a new career-high for triples in a game. She finished the night six-of-seven from long range in the game as her only miss came with just six minutes remaining.
Junior guard Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North) turned in a strong performance as well as she scored eight points and dished out a career-high 12 assists. Her 12 assists surpass her previous career-high of 11 helpers coming her freshman year against Evansville. The 12 assists are the most for a Cardinal this season and the most since former Cardinal Kelsey Corbin tallied 12 assists last season against Kentucky in the WNIT.
Senior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) came just shy of a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds. She finished the game six-of-11 shooting from the field and was a perfect four-of-fur from the charity stripe. Junior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) added 14 points and seven rebounds in the victory.
The Cardinals came out of the gate quickly against the Chippewas as they took a 17-7 lead just six minutes into the game. Rusche keyed the early going with six quick points, while Jarrett forced a CMU timeout with back-to-back baskets in transition.
Central Michigan (4-14, 0-5 MAC) slowed the Cardinals down for the next couple of minutes and stayed within 10 points at 28-18 before the Cardinals turned in a 9-0 run to take a 37-18 lead. Senior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) was the spark in the run as she scored five points including a three-pointer to force the Chippewas into another first half timeout.
The Cardinals picked up their fifth three-pointer of the half as McDonald nailed a long range shot with two minutes left and DeMuth hit a pair of free throws to send BSU into the locker room with a 46-32 lead. The 46 points are the most scored by the Cardinals in a first half this season, while the 14-point lead was their second largest halftime lead of the season.
Ball State connected on 64.3 percent (18-of-28) from the field in the first half and hit 62.5 percent (five-of-eight) from long range. DeMuth led the Cardinals in the first half as she score 11 points in the opening frame while Green chipped in 10 first half points. Central Michigan connected on 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from the field but just 33.3 percent (three-of-nine) from deep.
The Cardinals came out of the break and McDonald started to heat up as she scored the first five BSU points in the second half. Ball State turned in a 10-2 run just three minutes into the second half to take a 61-40 lead. McDonald capped the run with two straight three-pointers to send the crowd of 1,280 fans into a frenzy.
Ball State slammed the door shut on Central Michigan late in the second half as it scored nine straight points in a 1:15 to take its largest lead of the game at 79-51. Rusche scored four points in the spurt from the charity stripe while Green nailed a three-pointer from the wing in transition to cap the spurt.
Ball State finished the game with 21 assists on 31 field goals compared to just 12 assists on 22 field goals for CMU. The Cardinals also out-rebounded the Chippewas by a 38-33 advantage.
DeMuth finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. Freshman forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) added eight points and six rebounds as she played just 21 minutes due to foul trouble.
Central Michigan was led by forward Britni Houghton as she scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Guard Angel Chan chipped in 11 points off of the bench on the strength of three three-pointers.
The victory puts the Cardinals at 4-1 after their first turn through the MAC-West Division. Ball State will now turn its attention to the MAC-East Division with six straight games against teams from the opposite division. The Cardinals start inter-divisional play Saturday afternoon as they host defending MAC Tournament Champion Bowling Green at 3 p.m. at Worthen Arena in a battle of MAC division leaders.
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