Ball State University Athletics
WBB Travels to In-State Rival Butler Friday
December 08, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Ball State (4-4, MAC 0-0) vs.
Butler (1-7, Horizon 0-0)
Friday, 7 p.m. (EST)
Hinkle Fieldhouse (Capacity 10,000)
Indianapolis, Ind.
Internet: www.ballstatesports.com
Radio: WERK (104.9 FM) - Jay Garrison
Scouting Ball State: Ball State women's basketball is coming off of a 78-73 double overtime victory over Stetson Sunday afternoon in Worthen Arena. With the win, the Cardinals managed to improve their overall record to 4-4. Freshman guard Brittany Carter, who led Ball State in scoring in its last game, along with sophomore forward Jazmin Hitchens tied for Ball State's leading scorers with 20 points apiece. Junior guard Mercedes Miller tallied a career-high 11 points, while Katie Murphy tied her personal best rebound performance with 12. Carter's 20-point performance was a season high for the true freshman.
Scouting Butler: The The Bulldogs have lost six straight, Butlers last victory was against Harvard, November 13th at the Iowa Tournament by a score of 69-68. Butler has played only one game at home this season which was against Bradley, resulting in a 71-63 loss for the Bulldogs. Butler enters Friday's game with an overall record of 1-7. The Bulldogs suffered a 49-46 setback at Indiana State, Tuesday night. Leading the way in scoring for Butler is Haley Howard with 11.5 points per game while teammate Terra Burns is contributing 11.2 ppg per contest. Defensively Sara Hamm and Hannah Douglas lead the Bulldogs in rebounding with 4.4.
The Coaches: Ball State head coach Kelly Packard is in her fourth season at Ball State . . . Packard's overall record at Ball State is 53-51 (.509), while her Mid-American Conference mark is 25-24 . . . Beth Couture is in her 10th year as Butler's head coach . . . Couture owns a 148-128 career record at Butler.
The Series: The Cardinals return to the road Friday as they face in-state rival Butler at 7 p.m. in Hinkle Fieldhouse . . . Friday's game is the 20th meeting all-time between Ball State and Butler . . . The Bulldogs lead the all-time series record 12-7 . . . Butler won its last meeting over Ball State in a double overtime game last season by a score of 105-98. Despite the loss, current senior guard Megan Craft scored a season high 16-points performance of off 5-for-5 shooting from behind the arc . . . the last time the Cardinals came away with a victory from Hinkle Fieldhouse was in 2006-07 by a score of 97-65.
