Scoring has never been a problem for the women's basketball team. For the last three years the Cardinals have been one of the top offensive ballclubs in the Mid-American Conference.
And score is what the Cardinals (10-4 overall, 2-1 MAC) will have to do against the Ohio Bobcats, the only team in the MAC that scores more points per game than Ball State.
Despite the ease of scoring the Cardinals are used to, the team is suffering a shooting slump the past two weeks, being shut down by two solid defenses by Marshall and Northern Illinois. They managed only 5-20 from behind the three-point line Saturday at Northern.
The Cardinals can ill-afford a shooting slump against the Bobcats who have two of the most prolific scorers in MAC history. Ohio seniors Lori Moorman and Cathy Szall are two of the five active players to have more than 1,000 career points.
"Luckily, one plays inside and the other plays outside," head coach Tracy Roller said. "Our plan is that each time down the floor we need to take one of them out of the equation and limit the touches they get."
But something that the Bobcats lack that Ball State has developed is a solid defense. The Cardinals rank fourth in the league in points allowed while Ohio is last.
Still, the Cardinals have been getting beaten on rebounds, something senior Amy Fuller said is "killing the team." At 6-feet-3-inches tall, Fuller is one of the Cardinals' best post and defensive players as she is ranked 13th in the MAC in steals.
"We have to play as a team and play hard," Fuller said. "We always have a 10-minute stretch we don't play together as a team. We have to eliminate that."
Junior Tamara Bowie - the reigning MAC Player of the Year - is on the 1,000-point list, but has not scored in double digits the last two games, and only had nine shot attempts Saturday. Roller said getting the ball into Bowie's hands is going to be a big part of the Cardinals' offense.
Senior Shala Crook - who has been a starter for all but 10 games over the last three years prior to this year - will be out of the starting lineup for the fifth time this year after losing her position to sophomore Johna Goff. But despite the unfamiliar role for Crook of being a bench player, she said she is keeping a positive attitude.
"Starting, not starting, it doesn't make a difference," Crook said. "Everyone still expects me to be in the leadership role and be a coach on the floor."
Nonetheless, Roller said despite having eight players she feels could start at other schools in the MAC, the game will not be decided by the bench play or the Cardinals' superior defense. Rather it will be a battle of the stars on the court. Whichever team's best players out-perform the other teams.
"Defense won't be that big of a factor," Roller said. "They allow more than 80 points a game, this is going to be a game decided by who scores the most and controls the game.
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