Tina Bolte scored a career-high 27 points to help lead the Ball State University women's basketball to a win in the regular season opener. Bolte drained five 3-pointers and the Cardinals earned a 90-72 road victory over Murray State Saturday.
"My shots were just going in," Bolte said. "We were just getting great looks. They weren't covering ball screens very well. The post players were setting really good screens. I was just getting open."
Julie DeMuth added four 3-pointers and scored 21 points. Kelsey Corbin added nine points and dished out a game-high 10 assists.
Stephanie Douglas was the leading scorer off the bench, scoring seven points in seven minutes. Raechelle Hampton led the Cards with seven rebounds, including five offensive boards.
"I just thought this was a great overall team win to get us a great start," coach Tracy Roller said. "We have a young team, and we're gonna have lapses, and we're gonna make mistakes and do some things that aren't always that smart. But we play hard, and when you play hard, you can overcome those things."
Ball State jumped out to a 50-28 lead at halftime. The Cardinals shot 55.9 percent from the field, including 8-11 from behind the arc.
Murray State used a 19-2 run to close the lead to nine with 13 minutes remaining. The Cards answered with a 19-8 run to pull away, led by two 3-pointers and four free throws by DeMuth.
"We hit a lull in the second half," Roller said. "We needed someone to get us back on track. Julie was the one to hit the knockout punch."
The second-half comeback attempt was similar to the Cardinals' second exhibition game against the Hoosier Lady Stars. Ball State led the Lady Stars by 19 against and escaped with a one-point win on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Bolte.
"We never fought back in second half of the exhibition game," Roller said. "We just kind of held onto a win until we got a last-second shot. Whereas it felt like this game we turned the corner. We got our backs against the wall again, and we just kind of climbed over it."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
