Relegated to the bench for the second consecutive game, Lisa Rusche could have easily pouted at her seemingly diminished role on Ball State University's women's basketball team.
Instead, the senior took over when her team needed her down the stretch of Saturday's game at Eastern Michigan University, leading the Cardinals to a 64-53 victory against their Mid-American Conference West Division rival. The win pulled Ball State into a second-place tie with the Eagles in the West Division, one game behind Western Michigan University. Ball State has won its past two games against opponents in the West Division, improving its divisional record to 6-1.
"It turned into the Lisa Rusche show in the last five minutes," acting head coach Lisa McDonald said of her senior forward, who led the bench with 11 points and four rebounds. "She definitely adds quite a spark off the bench, and she's stepped her game up to another level."
After watching her team's 13-point halftime lead dissipate to a single field goal with 5:47 left in regulation, Rusche led Ball State on an 8-0 run to push its advantage to 56-46 with less than four minutes remaining. Rusche scored seven of those points and added a couple defensive stops against Colleen Russell, who led Eastern Michigan with 15 points.
"[Rusche] was just going back and forth - bang, bang, bang making big plays on both ends," McDonald said. "We don't win if she doesn't take over during that stretch."
Rusche did not return phone calls Sunday.
The Cardinals opened the contest with an 11-2 run and jumped out to their largest lead of the game at 28-9 with 8:29 remaining in the opening period. Eastern Michigan used a 21-8 run midway through the second half to pull within 48-46, setting up Rusche's late-game heroics.
Despite almost surrendering its double-digit lead, junior captain and point guard Kiley Jarrett said her team never lost its composure.
"It was pivotal that we were able to stay calm during the entire game, even when things became tough," Jarrett said. "We played within ourselves and didn't try to force anything."
Jarrett paced Ball State with a team-high 16 points and nine assists with four turnovers. However, McDonald said Jarrett's more important contribution came on the defensive end.
The junior guarded Eastern Michigan's leading scorer on the season, senior guard Alyssa Pittman. Despite Pittman's 14 points, Jarrett held the Eagles best perimeter threat to 5-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-14 from behind the 3-point arc.
Saturday's victory was the fourth consecutive win Ball State has posted against the Eagles, including a 71-64 outcome at Worthen Arena in the teams' first meeting this year.
As good as it felt to beat one of their biggest rivals at home, Jarrett said, beating Eastern Michigan on the road felt that much sweeter.
"When you play on the road in the MAC, it's almost like your down 10 points automatically," she said. "It's very important to be able to go into their place and come out with a strong start and keep our momentum going."
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