by US Fed News

In front of a sea of orange and a nationally televised audience, the No. 12 seeded Ball State women's basketball team claimed the biggest victory in program history over the most storied program in NCAA history with a 71-55 win over No. 5 seed Tennessee Sunday evening in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University. With the win, a school-record 12th-straight for the Cardinals, BSU improves to 26-8 on the season, including an 18-2 record when leading at the half and a 19-0 mark when holding its opponents to under 70 points this season. Tennessee, which losses in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, falls to 22-11 with the loss. Tennessee was 42-0 in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament entering the contest. The Cardinals will now face No. 4 seed Iowa State in the round of 32 Tuesday evening at 9:30 (ET) at E.A. Diddle Arena. ISU defeated East Tennessee State 85-53 in its opening round game earlier in the day. Porchia Green led all players with 23 points in the contest, while grabbing eight rebounds and handing out three assists.

Audrey McDonald and Kiley Jarrett also posted double-figure points for the Cardinals, scoring 18 and 14, respectively. Shekinna Stricklen was Tennessee's leading scorer with 17 points, while Angie Bjorklund added 14. Kelley Cain scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Lady Vols before leaving the game late in the first half with an injury. For the night, Ball State shot 44.4% from the field, while limiting Tennessee to a 34.8% field goal percentage. BSU also went 7-of-19 from down town (36.8%), while limiting UT to a 2-for-18 effort (11.1%). The Lady Vols did hold a 44-34 advantage in total rebounds. On the boards, Emily Maggert paced the Cardinals with nine, six defensive and three offensive, while Tennessee's Alyssia Brewer pulled down a game-best 10. Maggert also added seven points in the victory. Tennessee's Cain opened the scoring with a layup 23 seconds into the contest, and after another UT bucket, the Cardinals posted their first points in NCAA Tournament play with a three-pointer from Jarrett at the 18:34 mark. A pair of free throws from Alyssia Brewer gave the Lady Vols the largest lead of the opening half at 10-5. The UT lead remained four points at the 14-10 mark, before a Jarrett layup and a fast break basket from Patrice King off a Green steal, tied the half at 14 with 12:52 remaining Danielle Gratton gave Ball State it's first-ever lead in NCAA Tournament play with a fade away jumper which pushed the score to 16-14 at the 10:47 mark. From there, Tennessee scored two straight baskets to gain an 18-16 edge. However a pair of free throws from Green, who scored 11 first-half points for the Cardinals, tied the score at 18. BSU went on to score the next three points, on a free throw from Amber Clark and a mid-range jumper from Jarrett to take its largest lead of the half at 21-18. The Lady Vols responded with the next six points to pull ahead 24-21, but a Green bucket and McDonald's first points of the game gave the Cardinals the lead again at 25-24 with 3:42 remaining in the half. Alex Fuller and Stricklen answered with back-to-back baskets to help UT regain the edge at 28-25. However, the Cardinals would follow with the final four points of the half, thanks to baskets from Maggert (2:07) and Gratton (:42), and take a 29-28 advantage into the locker room. In addition to Green's 11 points, Jarrett added seven for the Cardinals in the first half. Cain led the Tennessee attack with 10 points, while pulling down eight boards, before leaving the contest late in the half with an injury. The Cardinals, who were 17-2 on the season when leading at the half entering the game, recorded the advantage despite being out-rebounded 28-18 in the opening frame. Maggert lead BSU with six boards in the half. Tennessee's Bjorklund scored the first bucket of the second half, while adding a three-pointer moments later to give UT a 33-29 advantage at the 16:21 mark. A layup and free throw at the 15:49 mark from BSU's Green cut the advantage to one point at 33-32, while a huge defensive rebound from Jarrett led to a Green three which allowed Ball State to pull ahead 35-33 with 14:30 remaining in the half. After a pair of free throws from Glory Johnson tied the score at 35, Maggert launch a three to give BSU a 38-35 lead with 14:20 to play. Moments later, a deep three-pointer from McDonald gave the Cardinals a four-point lead at the 45-41 mark with 9:33 remaining in the game. A pair of free throws from McDonald (9:07) mark gave the Cardinals a five-point lead (47-42), while a Maggert layup at 8:36 extended the advantage to 49-42 and forced the NCAA's all-time winningest coach Pat Summitt to call a timeout to calm her troops. After a layup from Bjorklund cut the lead to 49-44, McDonald responded with another three to move the score 52-44. After the eight-minute media break, a pair of Jarrett free throws gave the Cardinals the first double-digit lead of the game at 54-44 with 7:26 remaining. A missed three from the Lady Vols gave the Cardinals the ball back, and after grabbing her own rebound on a missed jumper from just inside the arc, Green gave Ball State a 56-44 lead with another quick jumper. With UT back within 10 at the 56-46 mark, a pair of missed UT free throws and a long range bomb from Jarrett put the Cardinals ahead by 13 at 59-46 with 4:42 remaining. Tennessee followed with the next five points, on Bjorklund three and Stricklen layup, to reach the final media timeout (3:45) trailing 59-51. The Cardinals countered with the next nine points, including a coast-to-coast layup from Green, to build a 68-51 advantage with 1:26 to play. Ball State's final three points came on three McDonald free throws, as they went on to win the game 71-55.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

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