Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Evansville
Strong Shooting Lifts WBB Past Evansville, 76-70
November 20, 2014 | Women's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. – In a game where the Ball State women's basketball team raced out to a 37-27 halftime lead, the Cardinals put for players in double figures to claim the 76-70 victory over Evansville Wednesday night in Worthen Arena.
With the win, Ball State improved to 1-1 on the season, while Evansville evened its season record at 1-1.
"Evansville missed some of their open shots that they got, I think they are going to make those down the stretch and I think they will end up having a really good year, Ball State head women's basketball coach Brady Sallee said. "We were just fortunate that when they missed them we were able to rebound the ball as well as we did, so I am really happy with that stat. Clearly we shot the ball really well and they didn't, probably a game of efficiency where we were able to execute in the second half. We needed that one, we needed to get off the hump a little bit and get that first one under our belt."
Ball State's defense held the Aces to .281 percent shooting in the first half and .363 for the game, while the Cardinals shot at nearly a 50 percent pace to tally the win. The Cardinals also out-rebounded the Aces 42-to-30.
Nathalie Fontaine led the Cardinals with 19 points, while Jill Morrison tallied 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Renee Bennett and Shelbie Justice added 12 points apiece, combining to make 9-of-16 field goals. Morrison connected on 5-of-9 field goals, all from three-point range, while also adding two steals on the night.
Morrison nailed a three-pointer in the first drive of the game to give the Cardinals the early 3-0 edge over Evansville. Ball State would hold on to its lead up until the 6:03 mark when Evansville tied the game at 20-20. The Cardinals then put together a 17-7 run in a span of six minutes to take the 37-27 lead over the Purple Aces at the half.
Evansville came within four (43-39) at the 15:10 mark, but sophomore Shelby Merder answered with a layup which sparked a 7-0 run to put the Cardinals back up by 11 (50-39) with about 12 minutes remaining in the ball game.
Evansville then orchestrated a 13-5 run to come within two (55-53) at the 6:55 mark. Justice drew a foul after a layup with just two minutes to play to put the Cardinals back up by five (70-65) and Evansville would not get any closer in the contest.
Ball State women's basketball will head on the road for the first time this season when the Cardinals travel to No. 12 Louisville Sunday for a 2 p.m. tipoff in the KFC Yum Center. Ball State's lone win over Louisville, which leads the all-time series record 4-1, came in the 2001-02 postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament when Ball State defeated the Cardinals 95-84 in Worthen Arena. Ball State suffered a 105-67 loss to Louisville last season in Worthen Arena.
