Indiana College News

Ball State Spoils Valpo’s Season Opener

Valparaiso opened the 2011 spring season on Saturday afternoon but ran into a tough Ball State squad, falling to the Cardinals 7-0 at the Northwest Athletic Club in Michigan City, Ind.

The Crusaders battled during doubles play, but were not able to come up with a win as Ball State (2-2) took the day’s first point. Katie Bilyeu (Terre Haute, Ind./South Vigo H.S.) and Kristin Zakiewicz (Bristol, Ind./Northridge H.S.) played Sarah Hebble and Georgina Thomson tough at the top spot before falling 8-4. Stephanie York (Elkhart, Ind./Jimtown H.S.) and Jackie O’Reilly (Green Bay, Wis./DePere H.S.) fell 8-2 at number two doubles against Kylee Johnson and Kristel Sanders. Hayley Hall and Paola Rodriguez concluded with an 8-1 win at the third spot over Brittany O’Reilly (Green Bay, Wis./Southwest H.S.) and Aubree Zdanovec (Appleton, Wis./East H.S.).

The Cardinals surrendered just two games total in singles play, winning all six spots in straight sets. Jackie O’Reilly took a game from Hebble at the second spot falling 6-0, 6-1 while York dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Johnson at number four. The other four matches were won by Ball State 6-0, 6-0 as Thomson topped Brittany O’Reilly at the top, Hall downed Zakiewicz at three, Sanders topped Bilyeu at five, and Rodriguez spoiled Zdanovec’s collegiate debut at sixth singles


Knights too Much for Trojans

The Taylor women’s basketball team found itself on the short end of a 91-58 score against No. 23 Marian on Saturday afternoon. Tess Rudolph scored 21 points and Allison Reece added ten points and seven rebounds as the Trojans fall to 5-8 in MCC play and 14-13 overall.

Taylor and Marian combined for 86 free throw attempts, just 11 shy of the NAIA D-II record as Marian connected on 38 of 50 from the charity stripe and Taylor finished 24 of 36 from the line.

Marian’s Whitley Emerson dominated the game scoring 28 points and pulling down 16 rebounds to lead a quartet of Knights in double figures. Rachel Kenney scored 16, Natasha Marshall added 12 and Natalie Robinson finished with 10 as the Knights swept the season series with the Trojans.

Taylor trailed 41-29 after a first half that saw Marian outscore the Trojans 20 to 8 in the paint while shooting 53.6 percent (15-for-28) from the field. Taylor shot just 34.6 percent (9 of 26) in the opening frame, including 1 of 4 from 3-point range.

Taylor scored the first seven points of the second half as the Trojans cut the Marian lead to five on a 3-pointer from Rudolph with 18:30 remaining in the game.

The Knights responded with a 25-2 run over the next eight minutes as Marian set up camp at the free throw line, going 14 of 17 during the stretch to extend its lead to 28 with 10:39 remaining in the game.

Taylor shot 28.1 percent (16 of 57) from the field and just 22.2 percent (2 of 9) from 3-point range in the loss.

Taylor will hit the road again on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup with Grace


Indiana Tech Upset #14 Cornerstone University
Fort Wayne, IN – The Indiana Tech women’s basketball team shocked the 14th ranked Golden Eagles of Cornerstone University in the Schaefer Center on Saturday, 72-63. The Lady Warriors overcame a slow start to improve their record to 15-12 overall and 7-6 in the conference. Cornerstone slipped to 19-6 on the year and 8-4 in WHAC play.
Cornerstone jumped out to a 10-0 lead in first four minutes but the Lady Warriors battled back, going on a 14-2 run to take their first lead of the game at the 10:49 mark.
The game stayed tight the rest of the half with no team leading by more than four points. The Golden Eagles took a five point lead with 39 seconds to go, but Tech’s Amanda Tipton (Burton, MI/Bentley) hit a driving layup in the final seconds to cut the lead to three, 28-25, at the half.
The Lady Warriors chipped away at the deficit through the early parts of the second half, and finally regained the lead, 39-38, with a bucket from Tipton with 13:11 to play.
On the very next possession, Cornerstone tied the game with a free throw and following a Tech turnover, retook the lead 41-39.
The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes until back-to-back 3-pointers from Ebony Robinson (Ft. Wayne, IN/Huntington) and Yasmine Coleman (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) gave the Warriors a 50-45 advantage with 8:37 remaining.
Cornerstone fought back and tied the game at 61 apiece at the 2:31 mark, but Tipton answered and put Tech in front for good on the ensuing play.
Three Warriors finished in double figures as Coleman led the way with 16 points followed by Tipton with 15 and Ulyssia Richmond (Temple Hills, MD/Riverdale Baptist) with 12. Coleman added a game-high nine rebounds. Juniors Brittnay Jones (Harper Woods, MI/UTEP) and Kaneisha Bass (Detroit, MI/Lincoln Trail) chipped in eight points each.










Crusader Women Win Second Straight, Down Detroit 57-46

Valparaiso got 29 points from its bench on Saturday afternoon and utilized a 16-0 second half run to defeat Detroit 57-46 at the Athletics-Recreation Center for the Crusaders’ second straight victory.

With the win, the Crusaders have now won back-to-back games for the first time since November of 2009.

“I am really pleased with our kids,” head coach Keith Freeman said. “They are really trying hard. It’s difficult when you’ve been struggling like we have been, but we battled today and made plays. It really shows the character of our kids. Our bench gave us a lot of energy when they came in the game and I think we’ve played well in four of our last five games.”

Tabitha Gerardot (Fort Wayne, Ind./Canterbury H.S.) registered her sixth double-double as a Crusader, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and Valpo’s defense limited the Titans to just 15.6% (5-of-32) shooting in the second half to rally from a seven-point deficit.

“Tab really wants to do so well,” Freeman added. “She is a warrior getting to rebounds. I like her tough-mindedness.”

Trailing 28-25 at the break, Detroit scored the first four points out of the locker room to take the seven-point advantage, their largest of the afternoon. The Crusaders began to fight back, scoring 16 straight points after trailing 36-31, shutting out the Titans for seven-and-a-half minutes.

Six straight points by Gina Lange (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake H.S.) during the run, as well as five points by Gerardot paced the offense. Meanwhile, the defense held Detroit scoreless from the floor for more than 11 minutes as the Titans missed 16 straight shots from the field.

By the time the run ended, Valpo held a 47-36 lead with 6:13 to play. The advantage was still 10, 49-39, before the Titans made one late spurt. Seven straight points, capped by three straight free throws by Dominique Dixon after she was fouled shooting from long range, pulled Detroit within 49-46 with 1:59 to play.

“They are a good team, a scary team,” Freeman said. “We were fortunate we gave enough help and they never got in a rhythm in their offense.”

Skyler Gick (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central H.S.) then found Gerardot down low as the shot clock was winding down made it a two possession game and the Valpo defense would not surrender another point the rest of the way. Rashida Ray (Fort Wayne, Ind./Harding H.S.) made three free throws down the stretch and Gerardot added three more points as Valpo finished the game on an 8-0 run.

“Our kids battled,” Freeman commented. “Down the stretch we got the ball inside and finished.”

Detroit jumped out to an early 14-8 lead before the Crusaders scored six straight points to knot the game midway through the first half. After the Titans again built a five-point lead, Valpo answered a second time. A 9-0 run by the Brown and Gold, capped by a jumper from Gick, gave the Brown and Gold a 25-21 lead.

As was the case in the first half though, the Titans answered with one more run, scoring the final seven points of the stanza to build the three-point halftime advantage.

Valpo shot 41.2% from the floor for the game, including a 47.8% clip in the second half, to help offset a 2-of-15 afternoon from three-point range. Detroit finished just 23.1% from the floor overall and 13.8% (4-of-29) from outside the arc.

“We’re still a long way from being a good offensive team,” Freeman added. “But our defense is getting better. I thought we did a good job controlling penetration and got back in transition.”

Lange added nine points and six rebounds for the Crusaders, as Valpo outrebounded Detroit 43-41, including a 27-19 advantage in the second half. Gick and Stefanie Lang (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) each added eight points while Ray has seven more. Gick also had six assists on the day.

“Skyler had a great floor game,” Freeman said. “She ran the team well.”

Dixon led Detroit (10-12, 4-7 Horizon) with 12 points while Yar Shayok pulled down 13 rebounds.

#19 Foresters upset #4 Wildcats

The Huntington University Foresters (19-7-8, 7-5) handed Indiana Wesleyan University (22-4, 11-1) their first MCC loss of the season with a 93-77 win over the Wildcats. Huntington led 39-29 at half-time and then cruised to the victory over Indiana Wesleyan.

Huntington’s Tyler Shively topped all scorers in the game with 22 points. Joining Shively in double figures for Huntington was Kellen Zawadzki with 18, Caleb Kennedy and Shane Merryman with 15, and Bobby Jolliff with 10. Zawadzki took team-high honors with 10 rebounds. Jordan Weidner led Indiana Wesleyan with 16 points. Patrick Hopkins took team-high honors with 10 boards.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - - Facing its strongest competition to date, the Ball State indoor track & field team collected one top 10 finish on the final day of the 24th annual Meyo Invitational hosted at Notre Dame's Loftus Sports Center.
In all, 47 women's teams from around the nation had at least one participant in the meet. BSU finished the two-day event with three top 10 efforts.
Senior Ali Bishel (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) led the Cardinals on the final day of competition with a seventh-place showing in the 3,000m run. She completed the course in 10:04.86 to place in the top third of the 33 runners.
Junior Janae Taylor (Richmond, Ind./Richmond H.S.) also turned in a solid effort for the Cardinals, placing 18th among 55 runners in the 200m dash with a time of 25.58.
The Ball State indoor track & field team returns to action next Friday, when it travels to Bloomington, Ind., for the Hoosier Hills Invitational hosted by the Indiana University.
Ball State’s Individual Results
3000m Run (33 entries)
7th - Ali Bishel (10:04.86)
Mile Run (43 entries)
26th- MaryKate Mellen (5:11.40)
Triple Jump (46 entries)
- Megan Cherry (Foul)
400m Dash (69 entries)
61st - Hannah Lange (1:01.00)
66th - Brandi Robinson (1:01.94)
DNS - Judah Smith
200m Dash (55 entries)
18th - Janae Taylor (25.58)
48th - Sharise Logwood (26.60

OXFORD, Ohio - - The Ball State men’s swimming & diving team ended its 2010-11 dual meet schedule with a 132-104 Mid-American Conference setback at Miami’s Nixon Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon.
Next up for the Cardinals is the 2011 MAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championships which will be hosted by Southern Illinois at the Student Recreation Center Pool March 3-5.
BSU ends its 2010-11 dual meet schedule with a 1-5 (1-3 MAC) record, while Miami improves to 4-5-1 (2-2 MAC). Ball State finished the day with wins in four of the 13 events.
Ball State opened the meet strong, with sophomore Michael Weber (Lorain, Ohio/Elyria Catholic H.S.), junior Gavin McNeeley (North Manchester, Ind./Manchester H.S.), junior Chris Krupa (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.) and senior Josh Young (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North H.S.) combining for a first-place time of 3:30.88 in the 400 medley relay.
Unfortunately, Miami answered with wins in the next six events to take control of the meet. BSU finally broke the streak in the 100 freestyle with junior Casey Schroeder (Williamsport, Ind./Seeger Memorial H.S.) posting a winning time of 47.80.
Weber followed with a victory in the 200 backstroke (1:55.99), while sophomore Nicholas Stevens (Greencastle, Ind./Greencastle H.S.) claimed BSU’s final victory in the 500 freestyle (4:52.49).

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - - The Ball State women’s swimming & diving team ended its 2010-11 dual meet schedule with a 175-65 setback at Notre Dame’s Rolfs Aquatics Center Saturday afternoon. Next up for the Cardinals is the 2011 Mid-American Conference Championships Feb. 23-26 at the Ohio University Aquatic Center.
Ball State ends its 2010-11 dual meet schedule with a 4-4 record, while Notre Dame improves to 5-7. The Fighting Irish posted wins in all 13 events, with BSU scoring six runner-up efforts.
Ball State’s first second-place finish came in the 200 freestyle, with sophomore Jillian Bischoff (Atlanta, Ind./Hamilton Heights H.S.) posting a time of 1:57.86.
Five events later, freshman Haley Richter (Roanoke, Ind./Columbia City H.S.) collected a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly with a clocking of 56.77.
In the 100 backstroke, junior Nicole Saulters (Highland, Ind./Highland H.S.) posted a second-place time of 1:00.44.
Senior Christina Riordan (Homewood, Ill./Flossmoor H.S.) followed her school-record setting performance last weekend with another solid showing on the three-meter board, placing second with a score of 280.35.
Freshman Bridgette Ruehl (Lowell, Ind./Lowell H.S.) gave Ball State its final individual second-place effort with a time of 1:05.47 in the 100 breaststroke.
The Cardinals ended the meet with sophomore Mallory Przybylinski (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.), freshman Mia Miller (Goshen, Ind./Goshen H.S.), Saulters and senior Katie Bylsma (Westfield, Ind./Pinckney H.S.) placing second in the 200 freestyle relay at 1:39.69