Ball State University Athletics
WBB Hits The Road For MAC Play At Buffalo Saturday
January 16, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Alumni Arena (Capacity 6,100)
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 at 1 p.m. (EST)
Buffalo, NY
• Radio Fox Sports 102.9 FM/1340 AM Jay Garrison
• Radio Tyler Bradfield and Peter Hoffman
• Internet www.ubbulls.com
• Television ESPN3-Sal Capaccio & Amy Audibert
espn.go.com
The Cardinals Nest
- The Ball State women's basketball team is making history with its 4-0 start to the Mid-American Conference season after defeating Kent State 85-47 Wednesday night in Worthen Arena. The last time the Cardinals started 4-0 in MAC play was in 2008-09 under the direction of former Ball State head coach Kelly Packard. Against Kent State, Nathalie Fontaine and Moriah Monaco led the team in scoring with 19 points apiece, it marked a career-high performance for Monaco. Candyce Ussery scored a personal-best 16-points after going 6-of-7 from the field which included 4-for-5 shooting from behind the arc. Fontaine also led the Cardinals defensively with 10 rebounds for her 12th double-double of her career. As a team, the Cardinals had a season-high 24 assists on 31 field goals, indicating how proficiently Ball State moved the ball on the fast break (16-2 scoring edge), off Kent State turnovers (28-9 scoring advantage) and in their half-court offense. The Cardinals will head to Buffalo Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff in Alumni Arena. The game will be aired live on ESPN3.
- Junior forward Nathalie Fontaine has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week, marking the fifth time Fontaine has earned the weekly honor for her career and the third time this season. Fontaine helped the Cardinals post wins over Miami and Western Michigan last week in MAC action. Fontaine led the Cardinals in scoring against the RedHawks with a 27-point performance, which included a 10-of-15 shooting performance from the field. She then closed out MAC weekly play Saturday with a 12-point performance against Western Michigan. For the week Fontaine averaged 19.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
- Buffalo enters Saturday's contest with an 8-7 overall record and a 1-3 conference mark after losing to Western Michigan at home Tuesday by a score of 62-59. The only MAC win for Buffalo this season came against Miami (71-51) in Millett Hall, Jan. 10. Buffalo has earned non-conference wins over Saint Francis (88-80), Niagra (73-64), Illinois State (68-60), Cornell (65-58), Saint Bonaventure (51-44), Manhattan (68-58) and Canisus (72-55).
- Sunday's game against Buffalo will mark the 21st time in program history the two schools have met with the Cardinals leading the all-time series 12-8. The last time the Cardinals defeated Buffalo in the MAC regular season was at Alumni Arena by a score of 69-55, Jan. 23, 2013. Buffalo defeated Ball State last season by a score of 73-69, Jan. 26. The Cardinals knocked off the Bulls in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals 74-60 last season.
Quick Hitters
• So far Ball State men's and women's basketball are 4-0 when they play in doubleheaders. The Cardinals played on Dec. 6 together with the men winning first by a score of 70-63 over Indiana State. The women then went on to defeat Oakland in the night cap, 70-50. In their first MAC doubleheader the Ball State women's basketball team knocked off Western Michigan, 54-36 and the men followed with a 83-65 victory over Central Michigan. Ball State will play two more doubleheaders this season, Jan. 24 and Feb. 14.
• After scoring in double figures in 13 of Ball State's 15 games so far this season, junior forward Nathalie Fontaine has now scored in double digits 69 times out of 81 total games in her career.
• Nathalie Fontaine has 529 rebounds for her career. She is now in 17th place all-time passing former women's basketball player Lisa Rusche (2005-08). Fontaine needs 12 to reach 541 rebounds to move her up to 16th all-time in front of former Cardinal Gena Rusch (1988-91).
• Junior Nathalie Fontaine earned her third double-double of the season after scoring 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds versus Kent State (Jan. 14). Fontaine now has 12 double-doubles in her career.
• Brady Sallee has guided the Cardinals to a 4-0 Mid-American Conference start for the first time since 2008-09 when Ball State went 4-0 under former head coach Kelly Packard. The best start to the league play for Ball State was in 2000-01 when the Cardinals went 8-0 under the directorion of former coach Brenda Oldfield-Freese who is currently the head coach at Maryland. Former coach Tracy Roller went 5-0 (2002-03) and 7-0 (2006-07). Lisa McDonald also led the Cardinals to a 3-0 start in 2007-08.
• Brady Sallee is in his third season at Ball State. He became only the second coach in program history to take the Cardinals to back-to-back WNITs. The last time it happened was 2001-02 and 2002-03 under former head coach Tracy Roller.
• Sallee led the Cardinals to an 18-17 overall record in 2013-14, with the 18 wins being the most in a season since the 2008-09 squad went 26-9. Sallee owns a 179-149 career head coaching record, including a 136-109 mark in eight seasons at Eastern Illinois.
• Sallee is now 2-1 in MAC openers for Ball State. He guided the Cardinals to a 62-59 victory over Miami in 2012-13 while suffering an 87-78 loss to Akron last season. Sallee led Ball State to a 62-50 victory Saturday at Bowling Green.
• Over the past decade (2004-2015) the Ball State women's basketball team owns a 54-31 (.635) winning record in the month of January. Brady Sallee in his first three seasons owns an 14-5 mark. The most games won in the month of January for the Cardinals is seven which was accomplished in 2006-07 under the direction of former head basketball coach Tracy Roller and in 2008-09 under former head coach Kelly Packard. Both coaches went 7-1 in the month of January.
• This is the 41st season in Ball State women's basketball history. The Cardinals are 471-601 (.439) and 237-308 (.434) in the Mid-American Conference.
• Lone senior Shelbie Justice needs 80 points to reach the 1,000 point plateau, she currently has 920 points for her career. She scored 22 points in the Ball State Federal Credit Union Thanksgiving Classic, had 12 points at Butler, 14 points at Saint Louis and recently 15 points in a win over Miami along with an 18-point performance against Western Michigan.
• The Cardinals out-rebounded Evansville, Nov. 17, 42-to-30 in their 76-70 victory in Worthen Arena. Sophomore guard Jill Morrison led the team with 11 rebounds. Ball State out-rebounded its opponent 15 times in 2013-14 with its highest margin being 19 against Miami University which resulted in a 80-70 win for the Cardinals.
• Ball State has been more efficient from the floor than its opponents. The Cardinals field goal percentage for 15 games is .437 while Ball State's opponents are being held to .372. Ball State vs. Purdue (43.8-to-34.0), Ball State vs. Evansville (49.0-to-36.4), Ball State vs. No. 12 Louisville (56.3-to-38.8), Ball State vs. Murray State (47.8-to-32.3), Ball State vs. Duquesne (31.9-to-53.6), Ball State vs. Oakland (50.0-to-27.5), Ball State vs. Butler (27.1-to-29.8), Ball State vs. Charlotte (49.0-to-41.4), Ball State vs. Pitt (37.5-to-35.0), Ball State vs. Western Kentucky (36.7-to-57.4), Ball State vs. Saint Louis (33.9-to-40.3), Ball State vs. Bowling Green (45.8-to-32.7), Ball State vs. Miami (47.5-to-41.7), Ball State vs. Western Michigan (38.8-to-26.8) and Ball State vs. Kent State (54.4-to-33.9).
2013-14 Team In the Single Season Record Books: Last season Ball State finished the season third in points scored in a single season (2,379) . . . fourth in 3-point field goals made with 13 vs. Ohio (1/18/14) . . . third in 3-point field goal percentage .722 vs. Ohio (1/18/14) . . . fifth in free throw attempts with 42 vs. Western Kentucky (12/6/13) . . . second in points scored by both teams (4,721) . . . first in rebounding (1,278) . . . fifth in steals (1,207) . . . fifth in assists (468) . . . second in 3-point field goals made (251) . . . second in 3-point field goal attempts (715) and fourth in free throw attempts (632).
2013-14 Individual Single Season Record Books: Sophomore guard Jill Morrison finished sixth in 3-point field goals made vs. Western Kentucky (12/6/13) after making six three point baskets . . . junior Nathalie Fontaine finished second in scoring with 574 points . . . fourth in field goals made (205) . . . third in field goal attempts (418) . . . senior Shelbie Justice finished seventh in 3-point field goals made (69) and Morrison was eighth with 62 . . . Morrison also ranks eighth in 3-point field goal attempts (177) and Justice was 10th with 164 . . . Fontaine, Justice, Morrison and sophomore Calyn Hosea are tied for first in games played with 35.
Justice Is Served: Justice has played in 112 games for her career while starting in 106 of them. Justice has 920 points for her career and needs 80 to the 1,000 point mark. She opened the season with a 14-point performance against Purdue (11/14) and then had 12 points in a win over Evansville (11/17) and a loss at Butler (12/13). Justice has scored in double digits for the Cardinals a total of 40 times. She also holds the record for most three-pointers made by an individual in the Mid-American Conference Tournament with 15.
Winchester Wonder: Jill Morrison has started all 15 games this season. She scored 12 points off of 4-of-8 shooting in the Cardinals season opener Friday, Nov. 14 against Purdue and then tallied her first double-double after scoring 17 points and pulling down 11 rebounds against Evansville (11/18). Morrison led the team in scoring for the second-straight season against nationally ranked Louisville with a 20-point performance at the KFC Yum! Center, Nov. 23. She led the team in scoring with 15 points at Saint Louis (12/30). Morrison earned her first Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honor for the week of Nov. 24. Morrison is currently 70 points from hitting the 500 point mark, she has 430 points for her career.
Taking Tall Orders: Sophomore Renee Bennett, a 6-5 center who is the tallest player in program history, scored a personal-best 14 points last year against Tennessee Tech (Nov. 30) at the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas, Nev., and at IPFW Dec. 29. Recently she tied her career-high again with a 14-point performance at Bowling Green (Jan. 3). She brought down a season best eight rebounds at Wyoming, Dec. 14, and at home against Akron, Feb. 15. She led the Cardinals in scoring and rebounding with 23 points and 13 rebounds in Ball State's 116-29 exhibiton victory over Oakland City (Nov. 4) and chipped in 12 points in a win over Evansville (Nov. 18).
Moriah Monaco Not Playing Like A Freshman: Freshman guard Moriah Monaco started her first game for Ball State in a 75-50 win over Oakland Saturday, Dec. 6 in Worthen Arena. Although a freshman, Monaco convincingly made herself look like a true starter, as she scored 13 points off of 5-of-8 shooting from the field while knocking down 3-of-5 three pointers for the contest. The true freshman only turned the ball over once for the entire 26 minutes she played. Monaco scored a season best 19 points at home versus Kent State off of 8-of-10 shooting, Jan. 14.
Winning In the Paint: The Cardinals have won eight-out-of-nine games when scoring more points in the paint than their opponent. Ball State vs. Evansville (26-to-20), Ball State vs. Murray State (34-to-12), Ball State vs. Oakland (34-to-20), Ball State vs. Charlotte (33-to-22), Ball State vs. Pitt (26-to-22), Ball State vs. Bowling Green (36-to-20), Ball State vs. Miami (44-to-20), Ball State vs. Western Michigan (32-to-20) and Ball State vs. Kent State (30-to-28)
D-D-DEFENSE: The Ball State defense has forced 93 turnovers in its first four Mid-American Conference games for an average of 23.3 per game. Ball State forced just 165 turnovers in its 11 non-conference games for an average of 15.0 per game. The Cardinals are also taking better care of the rock, turning it over just 12.0 times per game in league play, compaired to 17.9 in non-conference action.
