If she’s open, then her teammates probably know.
Freshman guard Jill Morrison was open early and often in Ball State’s 85-77 win over Western Kentucky tonight. She scored 26 points on 6-of-9 shooting – with all six baskets coming from three-point range.
“[Teammates] got me wide open shots, and it’s my job to knock them down,” she said.
Head coach Brady Sallee said the usually quiet Morrison is always quick to announce with volume when she has a good look at the basket. And even if Sallee doesn’t always see it, Morrison is confident that she’s open most of the time.
There were a couple shots that he said he would have liked for Morrison to pass up on, but he’d rather have the freshman shooting with too much confidence than too little.
“That’s a good mindset to have when you’re playing her position,” Sallee said. “Like ‘you want it,’ now we just have to work on her doing it when she’s actually open.
“I like her mindset right now. So it’s definitely a big, big weapon to have her out there.”
Junior guard Brittany Carter was out with an injury, leaving Ball State without its second-leading scorer. Morrison’s first shot of the game fell and from that point forward, she provided the team with all the lift it needed to overcome Carter’s absence.
Only three players scored more than eight points for Ball State. Sophomore Nathalie Fontaine finished the game with 23 points, 11 of which came from the free throw line.
Fontaine’s aggressive play complimented the shooting of Morrison extremely well early on. Ball State led Western Kentucky 40-22 at half time after shooting 55 percent from the floor.
After the intermission though, the offense struggled to hit shots. Even the hot-handed Morrison had missed a three-pointer that seemed destined to fall.
Though it was clear she would be needed early in the game, one of Morrison’s shots seemed to carry an extra bit of importance. With 7:31 left on the clock, she sank a three that ended a seven-minute stretch in which Ball State had not scored a field goal.
The Cardinals surged back to take the lead as Shelbie Justice and Shelby Merder added back-to-back three-pointers in the following minutes.
With 4:31 left in the game, Fontaine added a three-point play after being fouled on an inside shot attempt. Her free throw gave Ball State a three-point lead, which it would not give up again.
Senior point guard Brandy Woody added 8 of her 15 points in the game’s final four minutes. She said the team’s veterans have a definite responsibility to perform in clutch situations.
And even though Woody finished the game just three-of-five from the floor, she was able to get to the free throw line seven times.
“When shots aren’t falling, you have to be aggressive and get to the basket,” she said.
Woody finished the game with a team-high eight assists. She cracked a smile after the game as she said that all eight of them probably came from Morrison.
“It just makes me look good when they’re hitting shots,” Woody said.
Then again, it couldn’t have been too hard to find an open Morrison.
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