Ball State University Athletics
WBB Heads To Middle Tennessee Thursday In WNIT
March 17, 2015 | Women's Basketball
vs. Middle Tennessee
Murphy Center (Capacity 11,520)
Thursday, March 19 at 8 p.m. (EST)
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
• Radio Fox Sports 102.9 FM/1340 AM Joel Godett
• Radio WCRD 91.3 --Tyler Bradfield and Peter Hoffman
• Internet www.ballstatesports.com
• Television None
The Cardinals Nest
- The Ball State women's basketball team has earned an automatic berth to compete in the 2015 Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament that consists of 64 teams. The Cardinals will play at Middle Tennessee Thursday at 8 p.m. (EST). After clinching the Mid-American Conference West Division title outright for the first time since 2008-09, the Cardinals earned a bye as the second seed in last week's MAC Tournament and advanced straight to the semifinals, where they lost to No. 6 seed Eastern Michigan 75-65.
- Ball State will be making its third straight WNIT appearance, and sixth overall. The Cardinals earned their way to the WNIT last season after a seven-game winning streak before losing 79-68 to Akron in the 2014 MAC Tournament title game. Ball State lost on the road to Northwestern in last season's WNIT, 69-64. In 2013, the Cardinals made history as they won two WNIT games for the first time in program history. During their 2013 WNIT run, the Cardinals knocked off Big Ten foe Minnesota 54-51 on the road and scored a 53-48 win over Northern Iowa at Worthen Arena. In the Final 16 game, the Cardinals suffered a 60-48 loss at Kansas State.
- Brady Sallee, who is in his third season at Ball State, becomes the only head coach in program history to take the Cardinals to three straight WNITs. He has led the Cardinals to a 17-12 overall record in 2014-15 and the program's sixth MAC West Division title. Sallee becomes only the second head coach in program history to have three consecutive winning seasons -- 17-16 (2012-13), 18-17 (2013-14) and 17-12 (2014-15). The last time it happened was from 2004-07 under former head coach Tracy Roller.
- The game Thursday marks the first-ever meeting between these two schools in women's basketball. Middle Tennessee is a member of Conference USA. The Blue Raiders enter the game with a 21-9 overall record and went 14-4 in league action. The winner advances to face either fellow Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan or Arkansas State for round two of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, March 21-24. Ball State has faced two Conference USA opponents this season when it defeated Charlotte Dec. 15 in Worthen Arena by a score of 76-66 and then suffered an 84-59 loss on the road at Western Kentucky, Dec. 21. The Blue Raiders went 1-0 against the 49ers winning at Charlotte 84-54, Jan. 24 and 0-1 against WKU losing in Bowling Green, Ky., 63-60.
Quick Hitters
• Ball State went 1-1 in 2002 in its first WNIT postseason experience, beating Louisville (95-84) and then falling in the second round to Valparaiso (77-69). In 2003, the Cardinals defeated Indiana State (91-87) and then fell to Missouri (88-77). In 2007, the Cardinals fell at home to Kentucky (85-82). Ball State advanced to the final 16 in the WNIT in 2012-13 after taking down Big Ten foe Minnesota (54-51) and Northern Iowa (53-48) before the Cardinals lost to Kansas State (60-48). In 2014, Ball State fell 69-65 at Northwestern in the first round. Ball State is 4-5 all-time in the WNIT.
• Did you know the Cardinals are 12-6 for the month of Marchin the last two seasons under the direction of head coach Brady Sallee. Last season, the Cardinals defeated Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Toledo before heading into the MAC Tournament where they won four straight before suffering a loss to Akron in the championship game. This season the Cardinals are 2-3 this season in March. Ball State went 3-3 in the month of March in 2012-13, which included two wins in the Women's National Invitation Tournament, advancing the Cardinals to the Final 16.
• After scoring in double figures in 28 of Ball State's 30 games so far this season, junior forward Nathalie Fontaine has now scored in double digits 84 times out of 96 total games in her career.
• Nathalie Fontaine has 649 rebounds for her career. She is now in 11th place all-time at Ball State passing former women's basketball playerJaimie Lehotsky (1994-97). Fontaine needs two to reach 663 rebounds to move her up to 10th all-time in front of former Cardinal Kate Endress (2002-05).
• Junior Nathalie Fontaine earned her eighth double-double of the season after scoring 12 points and pulling 11 rebounds against Eastern Michigan (Feb. 26). Fontaine now has 17 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. 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.
• 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 188-154 career head coaching record, including a 136-109 mark in eight seasons at Eastern Illinois.
• This is the 41st season in Ball State women's basketball history. The Cardinals are 480-607 (.441) and 246-313 (.439) in the Mid-American Conference.
• Lone senior Shelbie Justice reached the 1,000 point plateau against Bowling Green (2/14). She currently has 1,060 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 and 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 30 games is .422 while Ball State's opponents are being held to .367. 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), Ball State vs. Central Michigan (43.6-to-37.7), Ball State vs. Northern Illinois (44.7-to-37.0), Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan (23.6-to-34.5), Ball State vs. Western Michigan (3.26-to-37.5), Ball State vs. Central Michigan (52.9-to-38.7), Ball State vs. Toledo (46.2-to-32.2) and Ball State vs. Eastern Michigan (42.4-to-33.3).
• Three members of the Ball State women's basketball team were honored Monday when the Mid-American Conference announced its annual post-season awards. For the second straight season, junior forward Nathalie Fontaine was named First Team All-MAC, while sophomore Jill Morrison was selected to Third Team All-MAC for the first time in her career and freshman forward Moriah Monaco earned a spot on the MAC All-Freshman Team. This marks the fourth time Ball State has placed at least three players on All-MAC squads in the same season, with the three other being 2008-09, 2007-08 and 1982-83.
2013-14 Team In the Ball State 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 Ball State 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 30 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), Miami with 18 points (1/28) and Toledo with 20 points. Morrison earned her first Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honor for the week of Nov. 24 and her second one for the week of March 9. Morrison hit the 500 point plateau at Eastern Michigan with a 10-point performance. She now has 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), at home versus Northern Illinois (Jan. 31) and at Northern Illinois (2/21). She brought down a season best eight rebounds at Wyoming, Dec. 14, and at home against Akron, Feb. 15. 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 and had a 14-point performance at Central Michigan, March 4.
Winning In the Paint: The Cardinals have won 13-out-of-14 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), Ball State vs. Bowling Green (20-to-8), Ball State vs. Northern Illinois (30-to-8), Ball State vs. Central Michigan (30-to-28) and Ball State vs. Toledo (24-to-18).
D-D-DEFENSE: The Ball State defense has forced 307 turnovers in 18 Mid-American Conference games for an average of 17.0 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 15.0 times per game in league play, compared 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.
