Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
0-1
Purdue
1-0
Fontaine Scores 1,00th Point In WBB's Loss To Purdue
November 15, 2014 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State women's basketball team suffered a 66-60 loss to Big Ten foe Purdue in its 2014-15 season opener at home Friday night in front of 4,012 fans, which was the third largest crowd in program history.
“First of all what a crowd, just really impressed with the community getting around this and the students, clearly Purdue traveled well but there was no doubt who the home team was today,” Ball State head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee said. “When I came in a couple years ago that was one of the things we wanted to do, we wanted to give the fans a reason to come out. I would like to think it was because of who we were playing but I really think it was because people thought it would be a whale of a ball game.”
Junior Nathalie Fontaine led the Cardinals and became the 23rd member of the Ball State women's basketball 1,000 point club after tallying 21 points on the night. She now has 1,018 points for her career and reached the 1,000 point club faster than any player in Ball State history except for Hall of Famer Tamara Bowie.
After falling behind 30-23 at the half, the Cardinals opened the second half with a 14-4 run to take their first lead since its 3-2 leading margin. After the run, Ball State led 37-34 at the 12:33 mark on a three pointer by Moriah Monaco. Ball State increased its lead to 39-34 on a layup by Jill Morrison, but the Boilermakers would tie the game at 39-39 and never trail again.
The Cardinals would battle to within one point three more times in the game with the final time at 52-51 with 4:38 to play when Fontaine scored on a layup.
Purdue would lead by as much as seven before a three pointer by Candyce Ussery with six seconds left in the game pulled Ball State to within four at 64-60.
Fontaine would score her 1,000th point after back-to-back layups at the 10:56 and the 10:52 mark to cut Purdue's lead back to eight (19-11) and ended the night on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. She also led the Cardinals with 12 rebounds, while Shelbie Justice added 14 points and eight rebounds. Morrison was the third Ball State player to score in double figures with 12 points, while Calyn Hosea led the team with five assists.
Ball State managed to shoot 43.8 percent from the field, while limiting Purdue to a 34.0 mark for the contest, but the Cardinals' 18 turnovers in the contest proved costly.
The Ball State women's basketball team continues its two-game home stand when it hosts Evansville Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Worthen Arena. To purchase tickets for the game, log on to www.ballstatesports.com or call 1.888.BSU.TICKET.
