Fontaine Breaks Women's Basketball Scoring Record
June 27, 2016 | Women's Basketball
Another athletic year is in the books for the Cardinals. Ball State student-athletes, coaches and teams accomplished several notable feats in 2015-16 and left their mark on the university.
Through much discussion, BallStateSports.com has identified the top 10 storylines of the year. We will reveal the storylines one-by-one each Monday for the next 10 weeks. In early August, once they have all been announced, fans will be able to vote for their favorite stories of the year.
The stories will be revealed in chronological order, beginning with the fall season and running through the spring. This week, we will look at Nathalie Fontaine's record-breaking performance …
Fontaine Breaks Women's Basketball Scoring Record
The fourth of the top 10 storylines from the 2015-16 season is Nathalie Fontaine breaking the women's basketball program's all-time scoring record. Fontaine became the program's all-time leader in stunning fashion on the final play against Northern Illinois in Worthen Arena, March 2.
Fontaine was on the cusp of breaking the record when Ball Sate gained possession of the ball at half court, leading by six points with just five second to play. She needed only two points to become the Cardinals' all-time scoring leader, Fontaine was content to wait for Saturday's game at Toledo to break the mark but teammate Carmen Grande took the inbounds pass and gave the ball back to Fontaine with the simple instruction: "Go! Go!”
So Fontaine did. She galloped long strides from half court and scored a layup at the buzzer to finish with exactly the 23 points she needed to move past Tamara Bowie and onto the top line in the Cardinals' record book. The basket gave Fontaine 2,092 points, one more than Bowie compiled from 2000 to 2003.
Fontaine went on to accomplish many other accolades throughout the remainder of her senior season. She was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press, becoming only one of 42 players recognized by the Associated Press and one of 10 non-power five players recognized. She also earned an All-Region nomination for the 2016 WBCA Division I Coaches' All-American Team.
Fontaine was voted the 2016 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and was named MAC West Division Player of the Week seven times in 2015-16.
She ended her career as the Cardinals' career leader in points (2,166), games started (130), minutes played (4,320) and free throws made (541). She ranks second in program history for games played (130) and field goals made (805) and sixth for blocked shots (69). Fontaine finished third in rebounds (985).
A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Fontaine broke Ball State's single-game scoring record this past season with a career high 43 points at Evansville (12/21/15). She scored in double figures in all of Ball State's 32 games last season and 118 times out of 130 total games for her career. Fontaine earned 20 double-doubles last season and had 38 for her career. She also scored 20-or-more points 37 times in her career.
A three-time All-MAC First Team selection, Fontaine led Ball State in scoring (20.6) and rebounding (10.2) as a senior. She ended her final campaign with 660 points which is the most a player has ever scored in a single season in program history.
She ranked eighth in the country in double-doubles and free throws made, 12th in free throw attempts (226), 21st in rebounds per game (10.2), 24th in scoring (20.6) and 26th in defensive rebounds (7.0).
Fontaine led Ball State to a record of 22-10 (13-5 MAC), its fourth-straight Women's National Invitation Tournament appearance and a first-round win over Big Ten foe Iowa (77-72).
