Heading to face No. 1 Connecticut on Friday, the women's basketball team made a statement against IPFW Tuesday night, pounding the Mastodons to a final score of 94-50.
Ball State had two bright spots other than the score. The first was Tamara Bowie, who scored her 1,000 point, only the 12th player in Cardinal women's basketball history to do so.
"I was very happy for her," Roller said. "I wanted her to get it at home. I wanted her to experience that here. She really played well today."
"It's a good feeling," Bowie said. "But I know I still have a long way to go. If one of my goals is to break the scoring record, I do have a long way to go."
If Bowie plans on breaking the all-time scoring record, she will have to surpass 1,513 points in her career. Bowie is a junior this season.
The second bright spot for the Cards was Amy Fuller. The senior pulled in a career-high 17 rebounds for the contest.
"I really didn't know I had that many rebounds," Fuller said. "I guess I just got them throughout the game. It's a really good feeling to break my own record."
Roller was not only pleased with the number of rebounds she pulled down but the leadership role she has taken on.
"I'm very happy with Fuller," Roller said. "She has really been a leader for us. She is going to continue for us for the rest of the year. She has really stepped up with that senior leadership role."
Despite outscoring IPFW by 44 points, Roller explained that keeping the intensity high wasn't a problem for her Cardinal squad.
"Watching the game today, I would say that it definitely isn't hard to have our kids go out and play hard," Roller said. "We know we are getting better for things down the road. We did a good job keeping our focus and running our offensive sets"
Ball State did exceptionally well with offensive sets down low. Ball State tallied 40 points in the paint while IPFW was only able score 18 under the basket. Twenty-two of the points in the paint came in the second half.
"We just wanted to come out and play hard. In the first half we weren't giving a lot of effort," Bowie said. "In the second half we just wanted to have a better second half."
Fuller agreed with Bowie saying that her squad is playing well.
"I think we are playing very well together right now," Fuller said. "If this continues to carry over, I think we are going to go far."
Fuller went on to say that after a performance like the team had Tuesday night, she expects good things in coming games, including the game against Connecticut Friday.
"Going into a game that big, coming off of a big win tonight I think it will help us a lot," Fuller said. "I think we are just playing really good together right now."
Bowie and Shala Crook did not start Tuesday night.
Starting the game for Roller was Kate Endress, Jessica Reiter, Fuller, Johna Goff and Julie Just. Roller said she chose this lineup because those five started for the first year coach in Lousiana-Monroe.
"It was mostly about the effort of the other five starters," Roller said. "I was really happy with the way they played at Lousiana-Monroe. They deserved another start."
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