Ball State University
18-7,10-4MAC
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Western Michigan
15-11, 7-7MAc
WBB Pulls Out Close 60-54 MAC Win Over WMU Saturday
February 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball
By Doug Zaleski
Ballstatesports.com
Did you hear the one about the team that slumbered around in the first half, then got serious in the second half and comfortably won?
If you follow the Ball State women's basketball team, you've seen that storyline play out multiple times this season.
The Cardinals nearly weaved a different tale Saturday, one that would have proven to be extremely distasteful.
Frustrated for most of three-plus quarters, they needed a furious rally in the final three minutes to escape by the skin of their teeth with a 60-54 victory against Western Michigan in Worthen Arena.
All was good in the end, but getting there was a wild adventure.
“I don't know that you'd put a frame around this one and hang it in your living room, but there's a place for this in our house,” Cardinals coach Brady Sallee said. “We're really happy with the fight we showed to win the basketball game.”
Ball State (18-7, 10-4 Mid-American Conference West) needed every ounce of fight it could muster during a game that had a choppy rhythm and tons of hand-wringing angst.
The Cardinals led 7-6 with 3:21 left in the opening quarter, but fell behind after that and found themselves without a lead for the next 31 minutes, 45 seconds against a team they had beaten 77-53 at Western Michigan on Jan. 23.
The Cardinals trailed 24-22 at halftime, but that was nothing new. They've had several lackluster opening halves before turning up the intensity in the second half.
That burst wasn't there for much of the second half against the Broncos (15-11, 7-7 MAC West), and for a long time it looked as though there might not be one. The deficit caused the level of irritation to mount.
Players couldn't hit shots as the Cardinals made only 26.3 percent of their field-goal attempts through the first three quarters. They committed 13 turnovers during that time.
Sallee received a technical foul with one minute left in the third quarter after voicing his displeasure about several calls in the previous 29 minutes.
“We had a lot of players step up, and we just kept fighting,” Cardinals guard Jill Morrison said. “We never said, 'It's not our night.' ”
Morrison dealt with another frustration, injuring a foot in the first two minutes of the game and being hobbled the rest of the way while playing 29 minutes.
She said she simply tried to do whatever she could to help the Cardinals win. Morrison made only 1-of-4 shots, but tied for the team lead with five assists and didn't have a turnover.
“Our focus was 'fight together,' and this game was a prime example of that,” Morrison said. “We had a lot of different players step up. We won that game as a team, and that was a huge step for us in the right direction.”
Numerous smaller contributions proved to be major factors in the comeback.
Frannie Frazier came off the bench to provide a career-high eight rebounds and tied her career best with three steals. Renee Bennett blocked two shots. Moriah Monaco made two free throws with 21 seconds left in the game to give the Cardinals a five-point lead at 59-54. Shelby Merder helped provide solid blockout on the boards to limit the Broncos to just one offensive rebound in the final five minutes after they snagged 13 before that.
“Our team never wavered,” Sallee said. “We just kept plugging away, and we got to Plan B and Plan C and Plan D. Finally, we just said, 'We're going to have to fight our way through this.' We showed a ton of fight, a ton of heart at the end.”
A strong dose of that came from MAC Player of the Year candidate Nathalie Fontaine. The senior forward posted her 31st career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while facing aggressive inside play from Western Michigan defenders.
“I couldn't make a shot to save my life today,” she said. “I just had to stick with it, be aggressive in the fourth quarter. We were the toughest team in the last minutes.”
Western Michigan had Ball State on the ropes, leading 54-49 with three minutes to play. Then the Cardinals outscored the Broncos 11-0 the rest of the game, getting points on their final seven possessions.
Fontaine's driving basket gave Ball State a 55-54 lead with 1:35 to go, the first time it was ahead since the 3:21 mark of the first quarter. Five free throws by four different players after that sealed the win.
“Obviously it wasn't my night shooting-wise (6-for-17), but you have to keep being aggressive,” Fontaine said.
Ball State shot 67 percent (8-of-12) from the field in the fourth quarter.
Fontaine bumped her career point total to 2,036, 55 shy of the school record of 2,091 by Tamara Bowie. Fontaine also tied her career high with five assists.
Monaco finished with 11 points and Bennett had 10.
The Cardinals will try to move into a tie for first place in the MAC West at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they play at Central Michigan. The Chippewas' lead over the Cardinals slipped to just 1 game after they lost 81-79 in overtime Saturday at home against Toledo. The Rockets are tied with Ball State for second place.
