Ball State University Athletics
WBB Hosts Bowling Green For Think Pink Game
February 13, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Ball State vs. Bowling Green
Worthen Arena (Capacity 11,500)
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015 at 2 p.m. (EST)
Muncie, Ind.
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The Cardinals Nest
- The Ball State women's basketball team improved to 8-3 in Mid-American Conference play after tallying a 72-62 road victory over Eastern Michigan Wednesday night in the Convocation Center. Nathalie Fontaine led the Ball State attack with a 19-point performance and tied her career-high in rebounding pulling down 15 boards on the night. Renee Bennett tallied a career-best 15-points while teammate Shelbie Justice contributed 11 points and Jill Morrison rounded out the double figures with 10. Ball State managed 47 percent shooting from the field while holding Eastern Michigan to 39 percent shooting from the floor. The Cardinals scored 40 points in the paint, 21 points off of EMU's miscues and out-rebounded the Eagles 38-to-33. The Cardinals will now host a cross-division game Saturday against Bowling Green at 2 p.m. in Worthen Arena.
- Saturday's game will be Ball State's “Think Pink” game as the athletics department is encouraging fans to where pink in support for breast cancer awareness. Fans who wear pink will receive a can of pop and a bag of popcorn. The Ball State athletics department has created a fundraising site where fans can support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund at http://www.play4kay.org/ballstatecardinals.
- Bowling Green enters Saturday's contest with a 9-14 overall record and a 2-10 league mark. The Falcons recently fell to Mid-American Conference leader Ohio by a score of 71-46 in the Stroh Center Wednesday night. The Falcons two victories came against Northern Illinois (65-59) and Miami (66-53). Ball State defeated Bowling Green in its MAC opener (Jan. 30) 62-50 at the Stroh Center. Bowling Green has also suffered league losses to Akron (67-59), Kent State (55-48), Eastern Michigan (64-52), Western Michigan (82-52), Northern Illinois (67-50), Toledo (64-48), Central Michigan (57-54), Buffalo (66-45) and Ohio (71-46). The Falcons are 4-8 on the road the season, which includes a 0-6 mark in MAC play.
Saturday's game against the Falcons will mark the 61st time in program history the two schools have met with Bowling Green leading the all-time series 44-16. In the two schools' last meeting, Ball State defeated Bowling Green 62-50 in its first Mid-American Conference game of the season. The win against the Falcons was the first time the Cardinals had defeated Bowling Green on the road in MAC regular season since 2003-04. It also marked the first time Ball State had defeated Bowling Green in back-to-back games since 2002-03.
- Head Coach Brady Sallee knows his divsion, as he owns an 18-7 mark against Mid-American Conference West Divison opponents. He is undefeated against Western Michigan (5-0) and has suffered only one loss to Northern Illinois (5-1) and Eastern Michigan (4-1). Sallee is 2-2 over Central Michigan and 2-3 versus Toledo.
Quick Hitters
• So far Ball State men's and women's basketball are 4-2 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. Both teams suffered league setbacks in a Jan. 24 doubleheader at Worthen Arena, with men losing to Kent State 63-52 and the women falling to Ohio 60-53. The teams will play one more doubleheader this season, Feb. 14.
• After scoring in double figures in 20 of Ball State's 22 games so far this season, junior forward Nathalie Fontaine has now scored in double digits 76 times out of 88 total games in her career.
• Nathalie Fontaine has 590 rebounds for her career. She is now in 15th place all-time passing former women's basketball player Alana Hancock (1993-97). Fontaine needs 26 to reach 616 rebounds to move her up to 14th all-time in front of former Cardinal Brandy Woody (2010-14).
• Junior Nathalie Fontaine earned her sixth double-double of the season after scoring 19 points and pulling down a career-high 15 rebounds at Eastern Michigan (Feb. 11). Fontaine now has 15 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 183-152 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 Jan. 3 at Bowling Green.
• This is the 41st season in Ball State women's basketball history. The Cardinals are 475-604 (.440) and 241-311 (.436) in the Mid-American Conference.
• Lone senior Shelbie Justice needs 20 points to reach the 1,000 point plateau, she currently has 980 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 During MAC play she chipped in 15 points in a win over Miami along with an 18-point performance against Western Michigan. She recently scored 17-points in a win at Toledo.
• Ball State has been more efficient from the floor than its opponents. The Cardinals field goal percentage for 22 games is .425 while Ball State's opponents are being held to .373. 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), Ball State vs. Akron (48.3-to-44.1), Ball State vs. Ohio (31.3-to-43.1), Ball State vs. Miami (44.4-to-35.3), Ball State vs. Northern Illinois (46.9-to-48.0), Ball State vs. Toledo (37.3-to-31.8) and Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan (47.4-to-39.3).
Let The Countdown Begin: With only seven Mid-American Conference games remaining the Ball State women's basketball team currently sits in second in the MAC West Division and is the third seed overall if the MAC Tournament were to start today. Ohio has taken over the top spot with a 10-1 league ledger while Western Michigan is in second with a MAC record of 9-3. The top four seeds get a bye to the 2015 MAC Tournament in Cleveland Ohio at Quicken Loans Arena. Under the direction of Brady Sallee the Cardinals are 4-2 in tournament play advancing to the semifinals in 2012-13 and the championship game in 2013-14.
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: Shelbie Justice has played in 119 games for her career while starting in 112 of them. Justice has 980 points for her career and needs 20 to reach 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 43 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 22 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) and Miami with 18 points (1/28). Morrison earned her first Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honor for the week of Nov. 24. Morrison hit the 500 point plateau at Eastern Michigan with a 10-point performance, she now has 505 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. She has tied her career-high again with 14-point performances at Bowling Green (Jan. 3) and at home versus Northern Illinois (Jan. 31). 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). Bennett chipped in 12 points in a win over Evansville (Nov. 18) and recently scored a career-best 15-points in a win at Eastern Michigan (Feb. 11).
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 9-out-of-10 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), Ball State vs. Kent State (30-to-28) and Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan (40-to-18).
D-D-DEFENSE: The Ball State defense has forced 208 turnovers in all 11 Mid-American Conference games for an average of 18.9 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 14.7 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 4.1 points per contest and 2.2 rebounds.
