March 14, 2003
Box Score
CLEVELAND - Freshman Dana Collins scored a game-high 21 points to lead third-seeded Ball State University to a 93-84 victory over second-seeded Miami University Friday in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals at Gund Arena in Cleveland.
With the victory, the Cardinals (20-8) have now won five of their last six games and will advance to Saturday's championship game, where they will face fourth-seeded Western Michigan University (20-11) at 1 p.m. EST. Ball State, the MAC's regular-season co-champion, made its first trip to the final last season, losing to Kent State University 73-59.
Against the RedHawks, Ball State led by 21 (79-58) with 4:20 remaining but had to hold off a furious Miami rally in the final minutes. Miami freshman Cindi Merrill made a three-pointer and then had a steal and layup to cut the lead to 84-77 at 1:01. After Ball State's Tamara Bowie hit 3-of-4 free throws on the Cardinals' next two possessions, Miami senior Heather Cusick hit another three-pointer to slice the lead to 87-80 with 45 seconds left. Ball State then hit 6-of-6 from the line in the final 34 seconds to secure the victory.
Junior Colleen Day scored a team-high 20 points for Miami (17-12), which reached the semifinals for the third straight season but has yet to make it to the championship game. Merrill finished with a career-high 18 points, with 11 of those in the second half. Cusick scored all 11 of her points in the final 11 1/2 minutes and also had a team-high eight rebounds.
Ball State scored the game's first 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting and led 19-4 less than six minutes into the game. Miami managed to cut the lead to as few as seven points (28-21) with just over five minutes left in the first half but the Cardinals ended the period on a 16-8 run to hold a 44-29 advantage at the break.
Miami lost despite forcing Ball State into 22 turnovers and outscoring the Cardinals 28-11 in points off turnovers.
Due to the MAC's divisional format, Ball State entered the game as the third seed despite being the regular-season co-champion with the University of Toledo. Miami was seeded second by virtue of its East Division title.
Saturday's championship will be the first since 1990 that does not include either Kent State or Toledo, who have combined to win 10 of the last 12 tournament titles, including the last eight in a row. (Bowling Green State University won the other two.)
