Coming off Friday night's 103-69 loss to No. 1 Connecticut the women's basketball team looks to get back on track tonight when it takes on Illinois State on the road.
Tonight's game will be the first meeting between the two schools. The Cardinals hold a 3-2 record while the Redbirds are 0-5 on the season. Illinois State lost to IU 101-53 in the first round of the Hoosier Classic last weekend, before dropping a 65-55 contest to Murray State in the consolation game.
BSU first-year head coach Tracy Roller will make a return trip to the state where she played collegiate basketball in. Roller was a four-year letterwinner at Eastern Illinois and played Illinois State nine times over the course of her career, including four games in Redbird Arena.
Even though the Cards lost to the No. 1 ranked Huskies, the team hung with UConn for much of the first half, going up by as many as five.
Much of BSU's success is due to its three-point shooting. In their first five games this season, the Cardinals have made at least eight three-pointers each time.
The Cards tied the fourth-highest mark ever in a game twice last week by hitting 13 threes against both IPFW and Connecticut. The 13 threes were the most Uconn has given up in school history.
Ball State has nailed at least one three-pointer in 42 consecutive games, dating back to Feb. 5, 2000. The team has connected on 38 percent of its long-range attempts this season.
For Illinois State, freshman Katie Donovan is the team's leading scorer at 8.4 points per game, while sophomore Taren O'Brien is second with an average of 8.2.
After scoring 17 points against IPFW last week to put her career total at 1,001, junior Tamara Bowie added another 17 points at No. 1 UConn. With 1,018, Bowie is 495 points away from setting the BSU career scoring mark of 1,513 points held by Emma Jones (1984-87).
Bowie is just one of three active 1,000 point scorers in the Mid-American Conference this season. The other two - Francine Miller of Bowling Green and Stephanie Smiley from Eastern Michigan - are both seniors.
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