Lacking any semblance of energy, Ball State University faced a 15-point deficit with slightly more than two minutes remaining in the opening half of Wednesday's game at Central Michigan University.
Then, the Cardinals called on their human spark plug, junior captain Porchia Green.
Green scored nine of Ball State's 10 unanswered points to finish the first half, pulling the Cardinals within five points at intermission. With Green flourishing offensively, the rest of Ball State's lineup woke up in the second half, pulling away to an 81-69 victory.
"We just showed our mentality that we're a strong team," Green said of her team's comeback. "You might get us down, but we're going to keep our heads up and keep fighting. It just took us 17 minutes to pick it up."
After being held to 34 points in the first 20 minutes, Ball State's close to the opening period carried over to the second half. The Cardinals scored 47 points - on 55.9 percent shooting - in the final 20 minutes and held Central Michigan University to 30 points in the process.
Green scored 15 of her 21 points in the first half to tie senior forward Julie DeMuth for team honors. DeMuth added 14 rebounds to record her 28th double-double of her career and the fourth of her senior season.
Despite solid efforts throughout Ball State's lineup, acting head coach Lisa McDonald said, Green was the table setter Wednesday.
"We made a couple adjustments and tried to get the ball in her hands as much as possible, and she just took over," McDonald said. "Sometimes we fall into the trap of when Porchia takes over everybody else watches, but that didn't happen tonight. When [Central Michigan] started keying on Porchia, the rest of the team followed suit."
Behind Green and DeMuth's 21 points, three other Cardinals scored in double figures. Sophomore guard Audrey McDonald finished third on the team with 14 points on 4-of-8 from behind the 3-point arc, the second consecutive game she's shot at that clip.
With eight 3-pointers in the past two games - most of which have come in crucial points in the game, bringing Lisa McDonald to call the sophomore's threes "daggers" - Audrey McDonald said she's shooting the ball confidently.
"It's always fun when you hit a big shot in a big game," Audrey McDonald said. "It's just one of those things where if your open, you shoot it and pray to God it goes in."
Senior Lisa Rusche and freshman Emily Maggert were the Cardinals other double-figure scorers, each finishing with 10. After playing as a reserve during the past two games, Rusche was back in the starting lineup.
Lisa McDonald said it was too early to determine whether Rusche will remain in her team's starting lineup.
"It's one of those things where you look at matchups and decide what the best lineup will be," she said. "No matter if [Rusche] starts or comes off the bench, she adds such a great spark because she's a tremendous play maker. Everybody on this team knows their role is to produce, so who starts on this team is really not a big deal."
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