To understand the importance of Ball State University's post production, look no further than its last two games.
Wednesday, in a 86-76 loss at Bowling Green State University, the Cardinals' frontcourt situation was nightmarishly bad. Two of Ball State's four post players were injured and the other two were saddled by foul trouble throughout the contest. The combination resulted in 13 frontcourt points and nine fouls.
Rusche led the team, recording her third career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. DeMuth added 12 points and eight boards for the Cardinals. Freshman power forward Kalynne Proctor added seven points off the bench.
Ball State coach Tracy Roller said being able to play without foul trouble or injuries was a nice change.
"Whether its been foul trouble or injuries or situations in the game, it seems like its been a while since we've been able to play Lisa and Julie at the same time," Roller said. "They pass so well in the post to each other and they're both great rebounders. So to have them back was huge for us."
On paper the Golden Flashes were the bigger team. Kent State has three players taller than 6-foot on the team, including starting center Tiffany LaFleur, who stands 6-foot-5-inches. While Rusche and Proctor stand 6-foot-1-inch, DeMuth, the Cardinals leading scorer with more than 14 points per game, is 5-foot-10-inches.
Kent State played a physical game; however, Rusche said the team thrived on the physical nature Kent State played with.
"We kind of feed off that," Rusche said. "If they push us, we're not just going to back down. We're going to push back harder. Julie was a perfect example of that. They were knocking her around like no other, and she just kept fighting and getting foul called."
The Cardinals spread the floor offensively in order to make space in the lane. With the floor spread, the Cardinal guards easily drove to the paint, either scoring the ball or dumping off passes to the forwards. The strategy also allowed enough space for Ball State's post players to go one-on-one in half court sets, instead of drawing the double teams.
Senior point guard Kelsey Corbin, who scored 12 points of her own, said the team's offensive spacing allowed the post players to dominate inside.
"The biggest thing for us offensively is to spread the ball around," Corbin said. "We've strayed away from that the last four games when we've had a rough stretch. But we really emphasized getting back to spreading the ball around and making sure [the post] got its touches."
While the offensive contribution was easy to see, Roller said it was the defensive end where the post made the biggest difference. Rusche and DeMuth combined for 19 of the team's 33 rebounds, and the duo helped hold Kent State to 24 points in the paint, compared to 38 for Ball State.
"That's what I've been looking for from my post all year," Roller said. "It was a physical battle, which usually in the past we haven't done as well at. It was encouraging to see that tonight."
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