Ball State University Athletics
WBB Division Leaders Collide At Worthen Saturday
January 23, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Worthen Arena (Capacity 11,500)
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. (EST)
Muncie, Ind.
• Radio Fox Sports 102.9 FM/1340 AM Jay Garrison
• Radio Tyler Bradfield and Peter Hoffman
• Internet www.ballstatesports.com
• Television Sports Link/Comcast On Demand Delayed
The Cardinals Nest
- The Ball State women's basketball team handed Mid-American Conference East Division leader Akron its first home loss of the season with a 77-73 win Wednesday night a James A. Rhodes Arena. In a game where the lead changed five times and the score was tied eight times, Nathalie Fontaine's 25 points lifted the Cardinals past Akron. Shelby Merder scored a career-best 14-points off of 5-of-6 shooting from the field while teammate Jill Morrison capped the night off with an 11-point performance after going 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Ball State returns home Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. tipoff at Worthen Arena.
- From 2009-present the Cardinals had lost eight straight games to the Zips. Ball State previously had an 11-game win streak from 2002-09 prior to Akron's run. Brady Sallee was 0-5 against the Zips prior to Ball State's win Wednesday.
- Ohio enters Saturday's contest with a 14-3 overall record and a 5-1 league mark. The Bobcats took sole possession of first place in the MAC East Divsion after defeating Northern Illinois Wednesday, 67-40. Ohio has won four league games in a row after losing at Western Michigan, 61-51, Jan. 7. The Bobcats have defeated Buffalo (61-50), Toledo (65-58), Eastern Michigan (82-59), Central Michigan (71-51) and Northern Illinois (67-40). Ohio currently owns a 4-1 record when playing on the road.
- Saturday's game against Ohio will mark the 57th time in program history the two schools have met with the Bobcats leading the all-time series record 29-27. The Cardinals have won the last two meeting against the Bobcats. Ball State defeated Ohio 79-63 in Athens last season and posted a 77-46 win in Worthen Arena in 2012-13. The Bobcats own a 4-1 record against the Mid-American Conference West Divison opponents.
- Former Ball State women's basketball player Kate Endress, who earned four letters from 2001-05 and was the 2004-05 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, is being inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame Friday. She was the nation's 2004-05 Academic All-American of the Year in women's basketball plus was the 2005 Indiana NCAA Woman of the Year. A two-time All-MAC First Team selection, Endress ended her career as the second woman and one of only four players, male or female, in Ball State history to reach the 1,800-point scoring plateau. Her 1,843 points placed her No. 2 on the school's all-time scoring chart and No. 11 in MAC history. In addition, Endress' 663 career rebounds made her one of only three players, male or female, in Ball State history to surpass the 1,800-point and 600-rebound milestones in a career. As a senior, she received honorable mention on the 2005 Kodak/Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America Basketball Team.
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 15 of Ball State's 17 games so far this season, junior forward Nathalie Fontaine has now scored in double digits 71 times out of 83 total games in her career.
• Nathalie Fontaine has 549 rebounds for her career. She is now in 16th place all-time passing former women's basketball player Gena Rusch (1988-91). Fontaine needs 37 to reach 586 rebounds to move her up to 15th all-time in front of former Cardinal Alana Hancock (1993-97).
• Junior Nathalie Fontaine earned her fourth double-double of the season after scoring 10 points and pulling down a career-high 15 rebounds at Buffalo (Jan. 17). Fontaine now has 13 double-doubles in her career.
• Brady Sallee 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 before losing to Buffalo, Jan. 17. The best start to the league play for Ball State was in 2000-01 when the Cardinals went 8-0 under the direction 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 180-150 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 55-32 (.632) winning record in the month of January. Brady Sallee in his first three seasons owns an 15-6 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 472-602 (.439) and 238-309 (.435) in the Mid-American Conference.
• Lone senior Shelbie Justice needs 69 points to reach the 1,000 point plateau, she currently has 931 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 17 games is .428 while Ball State's opponents are being held to .368. 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), Ball State vs. Kent State (54.4-to-33.9), Ball State vs. Buffalo (22.6-to-24.2) and Ball State vs. Akron (48.3-to-44.1).
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 114 games for her career while starting in 107 of them. Justice has 931 points for her career and needs 69 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 17 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 51 points from hitting the 500 point mark, she has 449 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 128 turnovers in its first five Mid-American Conference games for an average of 21.3 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 14.6 times per game in league play, compaired to 17.9 in non-conference action.
Merder She Wrote: Sophomore Shelby Merder scored a career-high 14 points in the Cardinals win at Akron (1/21) after shooting 5-of-6 from the field, while going 2-for-3 from behind the arc. Merder is averaging 4.3 points per contest and 2.3 rebounds.
