Looking at her starting post tandem of Julie DeMuth and Lisa Rusche these days, acting head coach Lisa McDonald can't help but think about how much the duo has changed during the past four years, she said.
DeMuth, a tri-captain for the Ball State University women's basketball team, was a shy freshman who was trying to find her place when she first arrived on campus. Rusche, who averages just fewer than 11 points per game and has started all but three games during the past two years, was a kid from Cincinnati who was trying to find her way around campus.
Tonight, the two Cardinals will share their senior night when Ball State plays Northern Illinois University at 7 p.m. A win will clinch at least a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division as well as a No. 1 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament.
"I've been thinking all day about when they came in as freshmen," McDonald said. "I'm just sitting here thinking about everything that's gone on in the past four years and having flashbacks to when they first came on campus as freshmen. Looking back makes [it] very emotional and special to know their last home game is coming up."
On the court, McDonald said, DeMuth and Rusche's games contrast each other perfectly.
DeMuth is known for her scrappy, hard-nosed play around the rim. However, she's listed as a guard in the team's media guide and spends most of her time on the wing or in the high post.
Rusche is Ball State's most polished low-post threat and patrols the rim on both ends of the floor, averaging 10.9 points per game and leading the Cardinals with 27 blocks on the season.
As acclaimed as the two are individually, both attribute their friendship off the court to their greatest strength - chemistry they share on the hardwood.
"We're best friends," DeMuth said. "But at the same time, if there's something I need to tell her, she wants me to tell her, and I want her to tell me the same way. Even if we have a question, our answer isn't going to be swayed either way. We don't sugar coat things, and you have to have a great relationship to be able to do that."
That testimony came under fire in the preseason, when the two say their deep bond was formed.
A couple days before the season began, head coach Tracy Roller - who has been away from the team since late December as she battles mononucleosis - named the Cardinals' three captains. DeMuth was on that list; Rusche was not.
"I think with her receiving [the captaincy] and me not, it brought us a lot closer to each other," Rusche said. "She told me things I needed to work on, and I was there to congratulate her and make sure she knew she did deserve the honor. I understood we needed to do what's best for the team, and there were things I needed to work on and grow as a person. ... Since that time, I've just tried to lead by the example I set."
With all the ups and downs DeMuth and Rusche have shared during the past four years, Rusche said, she's looking forward to sharing the senior-night stage.
"There might be a few tears," Rusche said with a laugh. "[DeMuth] is my best friend, and I'm going to enjoy sharing any more experiences I have the opportunity to have with her. At the same time, though, it's not our last game. We still feel like we have plenty of game left to play."
Instead of calling a win on Senior Night the perfect ending, DeMuth and Rusche both said the best way to cap their career would be to run the table in the MAC Tournament next week and earn the program's first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Despite everything that hangs in the balance for Ball State tonight, McDonald said, it's most important to help build the legacy her senior forwards leave behind.
"It would be the perfect story, especially when you consider everything we've been through this year," McDonald said. "A lot of people didn't think back in December that we'd be in this position now. What a perfect way to end it - to clinch the West Division and do it on Senior Night, really special night send them out right way."
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