by US Fed News

The Ball State University women's basketball team made history Saturday in its last regular season game at Toledo (17-12, 11-5 MAC). With its 75-69 victory over the Rockets, the Cardinals improved to 22-8 overall and 14-2 in the Mid-American Conference, which marks the best league record in the history of the Ball State women's basketball program. "Toledo's environment is terrific with the venue and the crowd," Ball State head coach Kelly Packard says. "The atmosphere is the toughest one in the conference and this was a good test for us heading into the MAC Tournament. This was a tremendous preparation game for us as we prepare to go to Cleveland."

The Cardinals had four players score in double figures with senior guard Kiley Jarrett and junior guard Audrey McDonald paving the way with 17 points apiece. Freshman Patrice King managed MAC high 14-points while senior guard Porchia Green chipped in 10. With her 40 minutes played at Toledo, Jarrett set the Ball State single season record for minutes played. She has now played in 1,092 minutes this season, breaking the previous record of 1,084 by Shala Crook in 1999-2000. In a game that Ball State fell behind by 15, the Cardinals battled back to the victory despite the loss in the final statistics. Toledo outrebounded Ball State 37 to 30. The Rockets shot better from the field - 44.1 to BSU's 41.2 - and UT had 44 points in the paint to Ball State's 20. Toledo rattled off five points in the first half to go ahead of Ball State 5-0 before Green hit a layup for the Cardinals at the 17:22 mark then caused a turnover allowing Jarrett to score on a fast break. Jarrett would then get fouled to make it a three-point play. BSU then went up 7-5 after a Jarrett jumper. Toledo continued to answer at the opposite end of the court eventually building a five-point (20-15) cushion at the 11:29 mark. With 11:03 remaining Jarrett hit one from behind the arc to cut Toledo's lead to two, 20-18. But the Rockets were killing the Cardinals from inside the paint. Toledo sparked a 13-0 run to take a 33-18 edge over Ball State with 7:44 on the clock. "We have been in that spot a few times," Packard says. "We went into a zone defense and made some adjustments at halftime. We were getting embarrassed and not responding, but we came out in a really tough environment and gritted our teeth to get the job done." The Rockets opened the second half with a three-point play to go up by 10 but Ball State went on a 12-0 run to take a 46-42 lead at the 14:34 mark. The freshmen played a big part in that run as freshmen King and Amber Clark combined for nine of those points. Ball State was up by four but the momentum quickly changed as the Rockets tied the game at 55-55 with 7:46 left on the clock. The Rockets would then take a 59-55 advantage until the Cardinals rallied back to tie the game at 63-63 with under three minutes to play. Green hit a layup and made it a three-point play after making her free throw, giving the Cardinals a 67-63 edge over Toledo. The Rockets would score with under a minute left making it a two-point ball game 67-65, but McDonald would hit a jumper putting Ball State back up by four. Ball State caused a Toledo turnover, and the Rockets were forced to foul. McDonald knocked down both free throws to put the Cardinals up 71-65. Toledo fouled McDonald in its last second efforts to win the game but she hit all six free throws to seal the victory for BSU. The Cardinals have won the MAC West Division and own the division's No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio. Ball State has earned a first round bye and will play Friday in one of the quarterfinal contests. "We are going to take Sunday off," Packard says. "We need to get the proper rest before we get on the road Thursday after practice. At this point in the year, we really need to focus on the scout of the opponent we will face in the tournament." Ball State's game time for the Friday contest will be announced by the league office Sunday.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

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