Ball State University
2-1
Austin Peay
2-4
Four Score In Double Figures In WBB's Win Over ASPU
November 24, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Doug Zaleski
Ballstatesports.com
Ball State women's basketball coach Brady Sallee doesn't consider his team to be especially athletic. But the players in his rotation have enough qualities to build a rotation that can turn a game around with some pressure on defense.
The Cardinals displayed that ability Monday night in Worthen Arena when they used a relentless 2-2-1 full-court press to stop Austin Peay 72-44.
The pressure hounded the Governors into 21 turnovers that Ball State converted into 17 points.
"I like the length we have on our team," said Sallee, who noted the Cardinals used full-court pressure for about 25 minutes against Austin Peay. "We can get our hands on a lot of balls, and we'll play hard. That's a good equation to be able to press. So far, it's not been bad."
It was excellent in the third quarter when the Cardinals (2-1) outscored the Govs 28-12 to turn a nine-point halftime lead into a 25-point cushion at 59-34 going into the final quarter.
Jill Morrison and Carmen Grande badgered ballhandlers up front on the press and Moriah Monaco and Nathalie Fontaine darted into passing lanes on the second level of the press. That made it difficult for Austin Peay (2-4), playing its third game in five days on the road, to advance the ball up the floor.
"I'm just trying to play hard and turn the offensive player with Carmen, try to disrupt them and rush them," Morrison said of her role on the press.
The junior made a career-high six steals (all in the first three quarters) by knocking the ball away on several passes on the press and in the half court.
"Jill got a lot of back tips, she was coming into traps and got a lot of deflections," Sallee said. "She's so active that those loose balls go down and she flies around. She likes to play that way. She's a bit of a kamikaze at times out there."
When Austin Peay was able to get the ball past the guards, Monaco was there to defend. The sophomore said she likes the press action.
"Especially when you have the people up top working as hard as they can, and then get them to throw a bad pass into the middle and have one of us intercept it," said Monaco, who had 16 points and six rebounds. "When we go down and score, it's a lot of fun."
The pressure defense ignited Ball State's transition offense in the third quarter as it scored 28 points to break the game open.
"When you're playing off your defense, you have those bust-out type situations," Sallee said. "We have multiple people who can handle it and make those passes. We work on it every single day, getting the ball up the floor, passing and moving at full speed."
The defense slowed down Austin Peay's offense and limited top player Tisha Gray. The senior guard, who was 15th in the country in scoring last year and came in against Ball State averaging 18.2 points this year, settled for 14.
She hit two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the game against Grande to give the Govs a 6-0 lead.
"What crazy coach gives a freshman three games (into the season) the 15th leading scorer in the country?" Sallee asked. "But for us, it was bigger than tonight. We have to go down the road and have (Grande) be able to defend.
"(Gray) started out by hitting two shots in her face. Then she figured out that coach wasn't jacking around. She did a pretty good job with her."
Gray made only two of her final eight shots after the early burst and committed four turnovers. She was the only Austin Peay player in double figures with 14 points.
Monaco's 16 led Ball State, and Morrison added 14. Renee Bennett scored 10 points, and Fontaine had her 20th career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Grande had five assists and no turnovers.
Fontaine moved into ninth place all time on Ball State's rebound list with 686.
Ball State's bench provided little punch in its last game, but the Cardinals got 20 points and 11 rebounds from the five backups who played at least 11 minutes.
The Cardinals will play Florida on Friday in the Omni Hotels Classic in Boulder, Colo. They'll play Colorado or UMass on Saturday.
