McDonald fuels Ball State’s stunning upset of Tennessee

When I spoke to Audrey McDonald a week ago as she and the Ball State Cardinals prepared for their NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game against two-time defending national champion Tennessee, she joked about being recruited by the top program in the country.

“Oh, yeah, they showed a lot of interest,” she said with a laugh. “Actually I was the one who turned them down.”

Turns out, McDonald had the last laugh.

Sunday night the former Indiana All-Star and member of Kokomo’s 2003 state championship team scored 18 points — 16 in the pivotal second half — as Ball State upset Tennessee, 71-55.

“I got a packet of [recruiting] information that they probably sent to hundreds of girls,” McDonald said. “But there was never any contact.”

She figures legendary Vols coach Pat Summitt knows her name now.

“Man, I would hope so. If not, I don’t know what it would take,” McDonald said. “But this was a team victory. We made everyone in the country know where Ball State is and what we are about. I was proud of our team’s character and the class we showed during the game and the way we handled the win.”

This wasn’t so much an upset in a No. 12 seed beating a No. 5 seed as much as it was Ball State beating Tennessee. Face it, this is basketball’s version of Appalachian State stunning Michigan’s football team two years ago in Ann Arbor.

Tennessee has simply been the most dominating team in all of college sports over the past three decades, winning eight national titles and advancing to the Sweet 16 in each of the previous 27 NCAA tournaments. The Vols were 42-0 over that span in first- and second-round tournament games.

A young Tennessee team had lost 10 games heading into the tournament, but eight of those losses came at the hands of ranked teams. Ball State (26-8) had played only one team in the 64-team tournament, that an Evansville squad that finished its regular season at 15-18, getting an invite only after winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Ball State survived a case of the nerves early Sunday night, led by a point at intermission, then steamrolled the shocked Vols in the second half.

“Our confidence level going in was pretty high,” McDonald said. “We knew they weren’t untouchable. We talked all week about the first four minutes — not being behind by 10 or 15 points at that first TV time-out. We were only down four or five points when we had that first time-out, and we all looked each other in the eye and said, ‘We can do this.’”

Appalachian State over Michigan may have been a fluke. This wasn’t. Ball State was superior in every phase as Summitt noted after the game.

“I thought we were tentative, maybe uptight,” she said. “But you have to give credit where credit is due and that’s to Ball State. They had a lot more toughness. They beat us to loose balls. They made shots.”

McDonald called it her team’s best game — even a step up from the Cards’ upset of Bowling Green in the championship of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

“Our defense was tremendous,” she said. “We kept people in front of us and contained [Tennessee’s] drivers, and our post people played well too. It was a complete defensive game, and that was something we didn’t ever do this season.”

Ball State’s offense inflicted its share of the damage in the second half, shooting 57 percent. Porchia Green used her quickness and athletic ability to score early and often from inside, leading the way with 23 points.

McDonald had just two points at half, but came up huge after intermission. During a pivotal period midway in the second half, she scored 10 of her team’s 12 points over a stretch of two minutes, 19 seconds. The junior guard hit a pair of free throws with 8:31 showing to give Ball State its largest lead (48-42), and her 3-point basket at 8:05 bumped the lead to 52-44. Tennessee never hinted at a rally from there as McDonald fueled the victory march with five free throws down the stretch.

McDonald is enjoying the historic moment while trying to keep her attention on tonight’s second round foe, Iowa State.

“The whole night was just awesome. I have no words to describe it, and I don’t think it will sink in until we get back home,” she said. “But it’s exciting to know that when you look at Tennessee’s [media guide], you’ll see Ball State as the first team that beat them in a first-round game. And when you look at our [media guide], you’ll see us as the first team to win the MAC championship and the team that upset Tennessee. It’s pretty special.”

Dave Kitchell is the Tribune sports editor. He may be reached by e-mail at dave.kitchell@kokomotribune.com