When sophomore guard Brandy Woody signed her National Letter of Intent to play at Ball State in 2010, coach Kelly Packard envisioned her as a player who could control the game from start to finish.
Woody did just that on Sunday, as Ball State (9-17, 4-9) defeated Mid-American Conference Western Divisional rival Central Michigan 84-76 in Worthen Arena.
"Brandy looked so poised and it's fun for me to see a kid that logged so many minutes in her freshman year, and didn't feel like she was successful for us, start to see that all of those games last year gave her experience," Packard said. "And now she can take the floor with such a different mentality."
With 15:31 to play in the second half, Woody received an outlet pass and sophomore forward Jazmin Hitchens entered the offensive zone on a two-on-one fast break. Woody dished the ball to Hitchens, who converted the easy bucket. The very next play was exactly the same, and the Cardinals gained a 50-46 advantage, their first lead since the opening half.
Woody was in the spotlight yet again with four minutes to go in the game. Freshman guard Brittany Carter dished the ball to Woody, who circled the perimeter, pivoted and launched a deep 3-point field goal to give the Cardinals a 74-66 lead.
"She wanted it," Packard said. "I remember her scooting around to that side and she wanted it. A year ago, it was kind of the look where, ‘please don't send it to me, please don't send it to me.'
"Those weren't things that Brandy did last year because she looked so passive that she would never want to lead a break and be confident enough to make a pass like that to Jaz. Sometimes you rub out minutes for a young point guard like I did last year as a freshman and you know it's going to pay off for you in the future."
Woody finished with a career-high and team-leading nine assists while chipping in with 10 points and nine total rebounds. She was one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double.
While usually a bright spot offensively, Carter struggled, going zero-for-10 from the field and zero-for-7 from beyond the arc. But fellow freshman Shelbie Justice shined by providing the Cardinals with a career-high 16 points.
Throughout her rookie season, Packard said she has known the kind of impact Justice can have, and it showed against the Chippewas.
"Shelbie is that," Packard said. "It's taking her a little while. She's methodical in what she does, but she's strong. She's got a nice stroke on the ball and she's really able to take some contact. She knows what's there and she's sturdy enough to take it."
Woody and Justice weren't the only Cardinals who aided the offense. Senior co-captain Suzanne Grossnickle tied her career-high with 18 points, and recorded her third double-double of the season with 10 rebounds.
The victory snaps the Cardinals' three-game losing streak and gives the team a boost in morale heading into the final three games of the season.
"We really needed this for our confidence," Grossnickle said. "We've been working hard in practice and it's all we've been talking about. We're just going hard and [always] staying positive. We needed to win and we're never going to give up."
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