MUNCIE, Ind. ? The Ball State women's basketball team hosts Mid-American Conference East Division foe Akron Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Worthen Arena. The game will be part of the WBCA's Think Pink Initiative to raise breast cancer awareness and fans are encouraged to show their support by wearing pink to the game.
“After a week off it will be great to get back on the court against an Akron team that is playing with a lot of confidence right now,” acting head coach Lisa McDonald said. “It is going to be an exciting fast paced game and we are looking forward to celebrating Think Pink weekend at home with our fans.”
The Cardinals are one of over 900 schools across the country taking part in the weeklong event to fight breast cancer. The Cardinals will be wearing pink shooting shirts and pink shoelaces while the referees will be using pink whistles. The first 300 fans in attendance will receive Ball State Athletics Think Pink t-shirts. There will be breast cancer awareness information on hand at Worthen Arena courtesy of Ball Memorial Hospital, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Muncie's The Little Red Door.
Ball State enters the game with a 9-12 record overall and a 5-3 mark in MAC action. The Cardinals are tied for second place in the MAC-West Division and sit just a game out of first place. The Cardinals have dropped two straight games in MAC play though with losses at Ohio and at home to Buffalo last time out.
Senior forward Julie DeMuth (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) is coming off of a double-double performance against Buffalo as she scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game and leads the team on the glass at 6.6 caroms per game.
Junior guard Porchia Green (Indianapolis, Ind./Arlington) leads the team this season in scoring at 12.7 points per game and is second in rebounding at 6.5 boards per game. She posted an all-around performance against Buffalo with 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Senior forward Lisa Rusche (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) adds 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game this season.
Freshman forward Emily Maggert (Paris, Ill./Paris) has averaged 15 points per game over the past two games and leads the team in scoring in MAC contests at 13.8 points per game. Junior guard Kiley Jarrett (Bloomington, Ind./North) adds 8.5 points per game and is second on the team in assists with 80.
Saturday's game is the 24th meeting all-time between Ball State and Akron. The Cardinals hold a 15-8 advantage all-time in the series history and have won nine straight meetings against the Zips. Ball State is 8-5 all-time against Akron in Muncie, including five straight wins in the series at Worthen Arena.
Last year, the Cardinals ran its winning streak to a season-high 10 games with a 71-49 victory at Akron to improve to a program-record 7-0 in MAC play. Ball State forced the Zips into 29 turnovers as it tallied a season-high 15 steals.
DeMuth paced the defense as she recorded a career-high six steals. The Cardinals forced Akron into just five first half field goals and a season-low 16 first half points. The Cardinals roared out to a 36-16 lead at halftime and never looked back in the 22-point victory.
The Cardinals had four different players scored in double figures in the victory with DeMuth leading the way with 15 points. She was four-of-six shooting from the field and seven-of-10 from the charity stripe. Former Cardinal Tina Bolte added 12 points off of the bench as she connected on four-of-seven from three-point land.
Akron enters the game with a 7-15 record overall and a 2-6 mark in Mid-American Conference action. The Zips have won two straight games after opening the MAC season with six straight losses. Akron is averaging 62.5 points per game this season while allowing 71.0 points per game against.
The Zips are without the services of preseason All-MAC selection Sarah Tokodi who will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury. Tokodi was leading the Zips in scoring through the first 12 games at 15.7 points per game. Keyla Snowden is second on the team in scoring and the active leader at 13.1 points per game. Kara Murphy chips in 12.8 points per contest.
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