Ball State University Athletics
WBB Continues MAC Action On The Road At NIU Saturday
February 20, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Convocation Center (Capacity 10,000)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 at 6 p.m. (EST)
DeKalb, Ill.
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The Cardinals Nest
- The Ball State women's basketball team remained on top of the Mid-American West Division after winning its fourth straight game with a 73-64 victory against Central Michigan Wednesday night in Worthen Arena. Nathalie Fontaine, the reigning Mid-American Conference West Player of the Week, was a catalyst for the Cardinals (14-10, 10-3) down the stretch. One of the leading candidates for MAC Player of the Year, Fontaine finished with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double in the past four games. She has scored double figures in 22 of 24 games this year and has had a career-best 15 rebounds in two games. Shelbie Justice finished with 22 points – she hit 5-of-6 3-pointers - and nabbed eight rebounds. Calyn Hosea had a career-high seven assists, and Candyce Ussery added four assists while Jill Morrison ended the night with 11 points.
- Northern Illinois enters Saturday's contest with an 10-13 overall record and a 6-7 league mark. The Huskies have recently lost three straight MAC games after falling to Western Michigan (60-51), Kent State (54-52) and Toledo (73-57). Northern Illinois had won four games in a row prior to that, with victories over Bowling Green (67-50), Ball State (65-62), Miami (60-49) and Akron (62-56). The Huskies own a 7-2 home record this season, which includes a 5-1 mark in MAC play.
- Saturday's game against Northern Illinois will mark the 48th time in program history the two schools have met with Ball State leading the series 31-16. Ball State has won four of the last five meetings against Northern Illinois. Northern Illinois defeated Ball State in its first meeting this season 65-62 in Worthen Arena, Jan. 31. Prior to that contest, the Cardinals earned a 61-47 second round win at the 2014 Mid-American Conference Tournament, March 12. In MAC regular season action last year, the Cardinals earned a 63-50 victory at the Convocation Center, Feb. 9 and then defeated the Huskies at home 67-57, March 5 in Worthen Arena. Ball State had swept the series the last two seasons over Northern Illinois. Brady Sallee is currently owns a 5-1 record, against the Huskies.
- Head Coach Brady Sallee knows his divsion, as he owns an 19-7 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 3-2 over Central Michigan and 2-3 versus Toledo.
Quick Hitters
• After scoring in double figures in 22 of Ball State's 24 games so far this season, junior forward Nathalie Fontaine has now scored in double digits 78 times out of 90 total games in her career.
• Nathalie Fontaine has 608 rebounds for her career. She is now in 15th place all-time passing former women's basketball player Alana Hancock (1993-97). Fontaine needs eight 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 seventh double-double of the season after scoring 23 points and pulling 10 rebounds against Central Michigan (Feb. 18). Fontaine now has 16 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 184-152 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 477-604 (.441) and 243-311 (.438) in the Mid-American Conference.
• Lone senior Shelbie Justice reached the 1,000 point plateau against Bowling Green (2/14), she currently has 1,023 points for her career. Justice had a career-high 22-point performance in a win over Central Michigan (Feb. 18). 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 and had a 21-point performance versus Bowling Green.
• Ball State has been more efficient from the floor than its opponents. The Cardinals field goal percentage for 24 games is .427 while Ball State's opponents are being held to .370. 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), Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan (47.4-to-39.3), Ball State vs. Bowling Green (46.9-to-28.6) and Ball State vs. Central Michigan (43.6-to-37.7)
Let The Countdown Begin: With only five Mid-American Conference games remaining the Ball State women's basketball team currently sits in first in the MAC West Division and is the second seed overall if the MAC Tournament were to start today. Ohio has taken over the top spot with an 11-2 league ledger while Western Michigan is in third with a MAC record of 9-4. 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.
Winchester Wonder: Jill Morrison has started all 24 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 527 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 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 surpassed her career-best with a 15-point showing 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 10-out-of-11 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), Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan (40-to-18) and Ball State vs. Bowling Green (20-to-8).
D-D-DEFENSE: The Ball State defense has forced 237 turnovers in 13 Mid-American Conference games for an average of 18.2 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 4.1 points per contest and 2.2 rebounds.
Stayin In The “Q”: The tradition of MAC Madness in downtown Cleveland during the month of March will remain on Northeast Ohio's sports calendar for years to come. The Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Quicken Loans Arena have agreed to a six-year contract extension to host the MAC Men's and Women's Basketball Conference Tournament at The Q through 2023. The current agreement runs through 2017.
