Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Northern Illinois
Women's Basketball Earns MAC West No. 1 Seed with Win
March 05, 2009 | Women's Basketball
In a senior night game honoring -- Porchia Green, Kiley Jarrett and Dana Moorman -- the Ball State women's basketball team put an exclamation point on the contest by clinching the Mid-American Conference West Division Championship with a 65-54 win over Northern Illinois.
With the victory, the Cardinals improved to 21-8 overall and 13-2 in the league with one regular season contest remaining. Ball State, which had already secured a first round bye in the MAC Tournament, will enter next week's event as the MAC West No. 1 seed.
Sophomore Emily Maggert supplied the offensive power for the Cardinals with 22 points, narrowling missing her career high of 24 at Western Michigan earlier this season. In addition, Maggert grabbed nine rebounds and made 10-of-16 shots for the Cardinals.
Junior Audrey McDonald managed 16 points for Ball State, while Green chipped in 10 for the Cardinals.
After playing a nearly even game for the first 15 minutes, the Cardinals were down on at 16-15 with 5:00 to play in the first half. Ball State tied the game at 16-16 with 3:53 to go in the first stanza, and then went on a 7-2 run and managed a 30-25 halftime advantage.
The teams played even for five and a half minutes of the second half and the Cardinals held a 39-34 advantage with 14:36 to play in the game. Ball State scored the next seven points of the contest and stretched the lead to 46-34 with 12:08 to play in the game. With 7:15 to play, the Cardinals owned a 51-42 lead and put together a 6-0 run to take a 57-42 advantage wth 3:58 to play -- the team's largest lead of the contest.
The Huskies would get to within seven points at 59-52 with 1:22 to play, but a pair of free throws by Green, two by McDonald and a final pair by Jarrett secured the win for the Cardinals.
Ball State will finish out the regular season with a Saturday 2 p.m. contest at Toledo. The Cardinals will then advance to the MAC Tournament, which begins Wednesday. However, Ball State will have the first round bye and play Friday in Cleveland, Ohio.
