Renee Bennett
Jersey number - 14
Position - Center
Year - Sophomore
Hometown - Muskego, Wis.
High School - Muskego
Experience - 1 letter
As a freshman for the Ball State women's basketball team in 2013-14, Renee Bennett was a backup post player. She didn't expect much of her first season and said she didn't think others expected much of her either.
This season, however, Bennett has started 15 games compared to three last year. She has increased her minutes by about five per game and her scoring and rebounding averages as well.
Her performance in the post has brought confidence, and Bennett said she thinks she is playing to the best of her abilities.
“I feel that I've been a bigger and stronger presence in the post,” Bennett said. “I feel that I improved that way - not being as timid as I used to be.”
Bennett's 6-foot-5 frame allows her to be a force under the basket and cause other players to either go around her or pass it out to someone on the perimeter.
She is productive in helping anchor one of the best defenses in the Mid-American Conference.
And while not often being one of the top scorers for the Cardinals, Bennett is still averaging 7.6 points per contest.
Much of her success can be attributed to a more aggressive style of play.
“I feel like people have expected this of me for a while and they've known that I could do this," Bennett said. "It just took me to a certain point to realize that I could be putting up that many points a game.”
While this new aggressive style of play is helping her game, it is also causing her to pick up more fouls on the interior.
Bennett has fouled out a few times this year, but head coach Brady Sallee said he isn't too worried about the way she's picking them up.
“The big thing with Renee is that she's competing,” Sallee said. “That's where we want her to be is really competing, and if she picks up those fouls in the competition part of it you gotta live with them.”
Bennett's role on the team has increased, and she is expected to help the Cardinals as they go into the MAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
With another year of experience under her belt and the rest of the sophomore class, Bennett and the Cardinals looked poised to compete for years to come.
Read More
Wapahani defeats Muncie Central in season opener
By Zach Carter / 10 hours agoWapahani junior Camden Bell led the Raiders with 18 pointers as the red and white defeated Muncie Central 51-27.
Yorktown downs Delta 47-46 in thriller
By David Moore / 20 hours agoYorktown takes down Delta in rivalry thriller 47-46
The Muncie Area Career Center is working to better educate community members
By Trinity Rea / YesterdayThrough Adult Education and Career and Technical Education (CTE) based learning, the Muncie Area Career Center is looking to help educate members of Delaware, Randolph and Blackford country.
