CLEVELAND, OH - With 1:10 left in the season, Western Michigan senior Curleta Harris drove down the right side of the lane and came to a jump stop when Ball State's Jessica Reiter came over to double team her.
"I saw the lane and I penetrated and my shot had been going so I figured, 'Hey, go in there and penetrate and just pull up,'" explained Harris, who finished with 17 points and two assists. "When they all converged on me I knew I had to dish somewhere and I looked and Lori (Crisman) was right there and I just gave it to her."
Crisman scored her second basket of the game to put Western Michigan (20-11) up 78-76. The Cardinals (20-8) had one final chance down three with nine seconds left, but Johna Goff's shot glanced off the rim and Crisman grabbed the rebound as she was fouled. Crisman drilled two free throws with six seconds left to seal the 81-76 victory for WMU and their first Mid-American Conference championship since 1985.
"In the timeout coach said four out, one in," said Goff, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. "It got down to seven or eight seconds and I got a look so I took it. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't. Unfortunately for us, it didn't go in today."
"Off Johna's (Goff) shot they got that big rebound," said BSU head coach Tracy Roller on the knock-out punch of the game. "I think you could say that it was the last time it was out of our hands."
Western Michigan won the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. They are a No. 14 seed and will play No. 3 seeded Stanford on their home court, Maples Pavilion, in Stanford, Calif., Saturday at 11:40 p.m. Stanford went 26-4 this season and won both the Pac-10 regular season and tournament titles. Stanford is ranked ninth in the current AP Poll; the Broncos are 0-3 vs. ranked teams this season.
Tournament MVP Casey Rost paced the Broncos with 20 points. All-Tournament selection Maria Jilian had another solid game, scoring eight points, hauling down three rebounds, dishing out seven assists while recording two steals. Kristin Koetsier had a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Broncos, and reserve forward Kelly Koerber had a spectacular game with 13 points and six rebounds in only 16 minutes of work.
"Kelly coming off the bench and running out ... I think the 13 points and six boards in 16 minutes really helped us," confirmed WMU head coach Ron Stewart. "It helped our other players to have their legs and it was a huge factor in our win today."
The Broncos were almost perfect in the second half, going 10-12 from the free throw line and committing only one turnover. WMU only had six turnovers the whole game and Ball State was unable to record a single point off of them. It made a comeback difficult for a team that had scored 35 points off of turnovers in their two previous games.
"We did a good job taking care of the basketball," said Stewart. "We have players that have skills and are capable of doing that."
The victory marked the first time that a No. 4 seed - which is the lowest seed to win, ever - has won the title. The Broncos' 20-win season is only their third in school history and their first since the 1977-78 season.
Ball State has now fallen in two-straight championship games. They were invited to the Women's National Invitational Tournament where they will meet Indiana State in a first round game at Indiana State Friday night at 7:05 p.m.
All-Tournament selection and MAC player of the year Tamara Bowie struggled in what was most likely the biggest game of her career with 14 points and only four rebounds, well below her averages of 20.8 points and 8.6 rebounds.
"It's disappointing," whispered an emotional Bowie. "I don't take anything away from the season we've had. When you want it so bad and don't get it, it's hard."
"I hope you never have to feel what I feel right now. It doesn't matter when or if you're in or out of it, it's just not a good feeling," said Roller.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
