Purdue Fort Wayne
Ball State
Cardinals Fight Past Mastodons in Championship Game
11/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2006
Muncie, IN - The IPFW Mastodons faced host Ball State in the championship game of the BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament Sunday afternoon in Worthen Arena. The 'Dons led at the half, but the Cardinals fought back and took the game, 73-62.
The game started off as a back-and-forth battle before IPFW posted a five point lead at 11:39 after a jumper by Ashley Johnson put the 'Dons up 10-5. The Cardinals would take away that lead, but a shot from beyond the arc by Hannah Thieke once again put IPFW on top, 10-13.
The Mastodons continued to hold a lead of six points after two good three-pointers by Johnson with just over four minutes left in the half. IPFW took their largest lead in the half with 41 seconds left. Juliane Höhne's layup put the 'Dons up by nine, 29-20. Two free-throws would cut the 'Dons lead to seven at half, 29-22.
"We had a pretty decent first half." said Head Coach Chris Paul. "Our defensive effort was good, but we could have had a bigger lead if we had made more shots."
In the second half, the Cardinals put up eight unanswered points to give them the lead, 30-29. Ball State would continue making shots, taking a six point lead at 16:14. A shot by Johnna Lewis-Carlisle at 15:52 would cut BSU's lead to four. It was also their first made shot of the half.
At 11:39, the Mastodons tied the game up at 41 on a layup by Samantha Edwards with a 10-6 run by IPFW.
With just over nine minutes left in the game the Cardinals ran out once again to a six point lead, 47-41. Free throws kept the Cardinals ahead, and at 3:19 BSU took their first double-digit lead, 63-53.
The Cardinals took a 13 point lead with 50 seconds left in the game. Lewis-Carlisle cut it down to 10 with a three point play. Ball State would hold onto their lead, defeating the 'Dons, 73-62 in the Championship game of the BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament.
"The 13-0 run by BSU was the turning point for us. Going from seven up to six down is tough especially when your on the road and facing the host and falling behind. It was a battle, back-and-forth throughout."
Johnson and Lewis-Carlisle were named to the All-Tournament Team for IPFW.
Johnson led the 'Dons with 16 points and seven boards. She added five assists and was 7-14 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc.
Lewis-Carlisle also hit double-digits with 12 points. She was perfect at the line, 3-3 and had two steals.
Edwards posted nine points and a block in 26 minutes. She was 3-6 from the field and 3-3 at the line.
Overall the Mastodons and Cardinals were almost even on shooting. IPFW hit 44.6% of their shots while BSU was 44.9%. IPFW hit 40% of their three point shots and 66.7% of the freebies. Ball State went to the line 24 more times than IPFW. The Cardinals were 24-33 and the 'Dons 6-9 from the line.
The Cardinals had four ladies in double-digits, Julie DeMuth (16), Porchia Green (13), Becca Bajorek (11) and Audrey McDonald (10). Lisa Rusche posted nine boards.
"We still have issues with turnovers and fouls. There is a fine line between being aggressive and being silly when it comes to fouls, and cheap fouls don't help the situation. Ball State took 24 more free throw shots than we did because of that."
"But we are improving and heading in the right direction. We'll just look forward to a good week of practice and get ready for Central Michigan."
The Mastodons (3-2) will host Central Michigan on December 2nd at 2 PM in the Gates Center.
IPFW will host Ball State, Indiana University and Valparaiso on December 10th for Hoopla: Celebrating Women in Basketball. The Mastodons will face Indiana at 3:30 PM in the Gates Center. Ball State and Valparaiso will tip-off at 1 PM.
BSU Credit Union Thanksgiving Tournament All-Tournament Team
Julie DeMuth - Ball State - MVP
Lisa Rusche - Ball State
Kelsey Corbin - Ball State
Ashley Johnson - IPFW
Johnna Lewis-Carlisle - IPFW
Alisha Dill - Coastal Carolina
