CLEVELAND - Dance the night away.
That's exactly what the Ball State University women's basketball team did Sunday night, as the Cardinals defeated Bowling Green State University 55-51 to win the program's first-Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship and advanced to its first NCAA Tournament, known by many as the "big dance."
The Cardinals, however, took advancing to the big dance quite literally.
As soon as the sound system in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena blasted out Beyonc+â-¿ Knowles' hit song "Single Ladies," every member of the team - perhaps ritually - got in a line and began to groove.
"Before every game, Porchia [Green] and Shannon [Klei] perform the 'Single Ladies' dance," sophomore forward Emily Maggert said. "Coach [Packard] started it as a pumping-up type deal to get us pumped up on away games, and we just carried it through and did it before every game. We said when we would win, we would do it again, and they played it for us and I guess we danced."
Win No. 25 this season on Sunday had several historical ties. Not only did the school win its first women's basketball conference title and advance to its first NCAA tournament, but it set a school record for wins in a season.
"There isn't anything that I could be more proud of than watching something begin in May, when this program went through transition, and to finish on March 15, 2009," first-year coach Kelly Packard said. "The something very special has been these young ladies and what we've worked so hard at - friendship, relationship, teammates, encouragers - all of those things that go into keeping yourself healthy enough relationally and to put yourself in a position to win at the end, and that's exactly what they've done and I couldn't be prouder for each and every one of them."
The game itself against the MAC East Division No. 1 seed Falcons wasn't in hand for the Cardinals until junior guard Audrey McDonald got a steal from Falcon's sophomore guard Tracy Pontius with 10 seconds remaining in the second half.
The minute before that steal, however, will probably give those who watched and listened to the game plenty to talk about for years to come.
Down 51-48 with 1:07 remaining in the game, senior guard Kiley Jarrett found junior forward Danielle Gratton for a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 51-all heading into the final minute.
Bowling Green's sophomore guard Lauren Prochaska, the 2008-09 MAC Player of the Year, then missed a layup, and Gratton grabbed the defensive rebound to set up one of the biggest shots in Ball State history.
Packard called a timeout with 44 seconds left to set up the play.
"We had been running a particular set that has seven options in it," Packard said. "It was just real more of a, 'Let's collect ourselves, let's make sure that all five of you are going to be on the same page and be patient.'"
Almost 20 seconds later, Green - the fourth option on the play - took the game and the championship on her shoulders as she drove into the lane and made a wide-open finger roll to put Ball State ahead 53-51 and send its bench and fan section behind it in a frenzy.
"I saw an opportunity," said Green, the two-time First Team All-MAC selection and 2008-09 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. "As a leader and as a senior, it was an opportunity where I think I could step up to the plate."
To add an exclamation point, McDonald stole the ball on Bowling Green's next possession and found none other than Green wide open for a fastbreak layup to create the final score.
"Words can't describe it, but as a little girl, this is your dream," said Gratton, a 2008-09 Third Team All-MAC selection. "To win it with these girls and this team is awesome. We love each other, and we got here as a team and we won as a team."
Ball State (25-8, 14-2 MAC) trailed 31-26 after the first half when it was out-rebounded 23-14, including 12-4 on the offensive glass, leading to a 7-3 second-chance scoring advantage Bowling Green.
But the Cardinals made an 8-2 run to begin the second half and the Falcons (28-4, 15-1 MAC) made 1-of-16 shots to begin the period to put the Cardinals right back in the game. Ball State also out-rebounded Bowling Green 20-17 in the second half.
"I really felt that rebounding was the key," Packard said. "I know that we still didn't end up winning the rebounding margin, but we certainly got better than we were in the first half."
The Cardinals were led by 2008-09 Third Team All-MAC selection Maggert's game-high 14 points with two steals. Gratton had nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds, Green had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists, and senior guard Kiley Jarrett had nine points, three rebounds and three assists to go with her game-best five steals to offset her team-high five turnovers.
Freshman guard Patrice King came off the bench to add eight points for Ball State.
For Bowling Green, junior guard Niki McCoy had a game-high 15 points and added seven rebounds. First Team All-MAC selection, sophomore guard Tracy Pontius, had 14 points but a game-high seven turnovers, while Prochaska had seven points and seven rebounds.
Pontius was named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament and was joined by Maggert and McCoy as the representatives from the championship game to make the All-Tournament team. Buffalo sophomore guard Kourtney Brown and Toledo junior forward Tanika Mays rounded out the five-woman team.
Ball State will have to wait until tonight to know its seeding and opponent in the NCAA Tournament. The Women's NCAA Selection Show will be aired live on ESPN at 7 p.m.
Until then, the Cardinals won't stop dancing for anything, and Gratton knows exactly what makes her team move.
"Team chemistry," she said. "They might underestimate us [in the NCAAs], but we're going to give it everything we've got."
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