In her first two seasons, Lisa Rusche averaged eight and a half minutes per game with one start and totaled 108 points. Her junior campaign has been an entirely different story.
Playing in the post, Rusche has started every game except senior night this season, averaging 24.7 minutes per contest. Her play on the court has more than warranted the increase in playing time.
Against Butler University this season, Rusche nearly doubled her freshman-year point total of 22, scoring 36 points and adding 10 rebounds for the double-double.
"I remember at one point [in the game] I knew I had a lot of points; I just didn't know the exact amount," Rusche said. "I felt like I had scored enough, so I wanted my teammates to score. I kept kicking out passes from the post when they threw it in to me. They gave the ball right back to me, though, and just told me to keep shooting."
Looking back, Ball State coach Tracy Roller said she could sense in the off-season that Rusche might have a breakout year. Rusche was gaining more confidence with every open gym practice in the summer and shoot-arounds in the fall.
However, Roller said it wasn't until a couple weeks before the season that things started clicking for Rusche.
"We did this self-evaluation of our team before the year started," Roller said. "The team evaluated each player and wrote down who they would put in certain situations. After I looked at all the evaluations, I saw that Lisa hadn't evaluated herself anywhere close to what the rest of the team thought of her. I brought her in and said, 'This is what you think, and this is what the team thinks.' What the team thought of her was so much higher than what she thought of her, and I think she started to understand what she's capable of."
One of those teammates is junior forward Julie DeMuth, who said it was only a matter of time until Rusche blossomed into what she has become.
"I think if you would've seen her in open gyms and shoot-arounds in the off-season you would know that she was going to break out sometime," DeMuth said. "This year was just her year. Whenever I think of her and the season she's had, I just smile. That's just the kind of person she is. Off the court we're great friends and on the court she's been unbelievable. I'm proud of her, and I know everybody is proud of the season she's had."
Rusche is quick to return the love to her teammates. The junior said senior center Becca Bajorek has helped her considerably off the court. Rusche also said that the special bond she shares with DeMuth off the court has contributed to the on-court success.
"Julie has helped me out a lot this year just with her mentality and keeping me positive at all times," Rusche said. "I think both of us being juniors really adds to it. We came into this program at the same time and we've done everything together since we've been here. She's helped me become a better player."
Though Rusche has acquired the confidence she lacked in previous seasons, Roller said the junior hasn't figured out just how good she is yet. Instead of pounding it into her head, however, Roller said she's content on keeping things the same.
"I think Lisa is [Mid-American Conference] Player of the Year good," Roller said. "I think she has that kind of a game where she's going to do great things. But I think it's better off that she doesn't realize that. Lisa is so much better when she just plays and worries about the outcome later. That's what she's done this season and it's worked out great."
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