Ball State University
Urbana (Exhibition)
WBB Wins Exhibition Opener Over Urbana University
November 04, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Doug Zaleski
BallStateSports.com
If the Ball State women's basketball team is going to reach its goal this season of advancing deep in the Mid-American Conference Tournament and playing in a postseason tournament beyond that level, depth might be its key to success.
The Cardinals boast a strong core of top returning players, headed by preseason All-MAC West picks Nathalie Fontaine, a senior forward, and junior guard Jill Morrison.
But the bench might provide the defining story for Ball State. Last year, the Cardinals relied on a rotation of six or seven players. This season, fourth-year coach Brady Sallee would like to be able to go nine or 10 players deep in the rotation.
The Cardinals showed Tuesday that could be a possibility as they overpowered Urbana University 151-72 in an exhibition game in Worthen Arena.
The six players off Ball State's bench combined to score 72 points and grab 29 rebounds while receiving extensive playing action.
“Teams with benches win a lot of games,” Morrison said. “Having a deep team will be extremely important, especially as we hopefully get to Cleveland (for the MAC tourney) where you play multiple games in a few days.
“It's extremely important that players are learning their roles in our system so we are able to play more than five or six (players).”
Three sophomores – starter Moriah Monaco and backups Frannie Frazier and Brionna Simond – gave strong showings against Urbana.
“We've seen kids go between their freshman and sophomore years and make huge strides with what they're doing, and that's what a sophomore should look like,” Cardinals coach Brady Sallee said. “They're comfortable in the system now.”
Monaco hit 4-of-5 shots from the 3-point line while scoring 16 points in 20 minutes, and she had five steals. Frazier hit all six of her field-goal attempts on the way to 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. Simond scored eight points, while adding five assists and three steals in 15 minutes.
Frazier looked particularly confident and aggressive on the court.
“She learned her place in our system and how to play within that system,” Sallee said. “Instead of trying to force things and do things out of the offense, she's getting it in the offense. That's huge because now it leads to being efficient and everybody being able to play with her.”
Freshman Lucia Fernandez made 10-of-14 shots to tie for team scoring honors with 24 points and had five rebounds (three on offense) in just 14 minutes.
“That's what we recruited her to be, get the ball to the rim and go get (offensive) boards,” Sallee said. “She did that tonight. We'll see if we can do that against a little bit higher caliber opponent, but she thinks the right way.”
Simond is battling with freshman Carmen Grande, who started, for point guard minutes. Simond made an impact with her quickness and aggressiveness, getting eight points and five assists. Grande had seven assists, seven points and three steals.
“Between Carmen and Bri, it can be a year of competition, and whoever plays the best, we'll put out there,” Sallee said. “They're both going to play a ton of minutes. You can see the true point guard part in both of those kids. Their emergence as point guards and doing what we want them to do will really be critical for our success.”
Junior Calyn Hosea led the Cardinals with nine assists in 22 minutes off the bench, senior Shelby Merder had 15 points in 18 minutes, and freshman Nakeya Penny had five points in 12 minutes.
Ball State's three core upperclassmen – Morrison, Fontaine and center Renee Bennett – sat out most of the second half while the younger and inexperienced players finished the game.
Fontaine made 9-of-11 shots for 24 points, Morrison hit 4-of-5 3-pointers on the way to 19 points, and Bennett had 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
The Cardinals will open the regular season Nov. 13 at Charlotte. Their first home game is Nov. 19 against Western Kentucky.
