MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Watching a first-half hook shot by sophomore Kate Endress go through the rim with the greatest of ease, head coach Tracy Roller reacted with a fist pump and a shout as she watched her team put an eight-point lead on No. 5 Kansas State, silencing a crowd of more than seven thousand in the process.
But the shouts of excitement and fist pumping soon turned to bewilderment and astonishment as the Cardinals saw a game, which looked like they had in control, slip through their fingers as Kansas State (1-0) hit key second-half shots on the way to a 71-61 first-round win in the Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament.
"I was so proud of our execution," Roller said. "We came out in a tough environment and against a tough team and really stuck to our game plan."
The first half saw the Cardinals (0-1) overcome an early eight-point
deficit to take their own eight-point lead. Controlling the tempo of the game, the Cardinals used a quick, trapping defense to control Naismith Award candidate and All-Big XII player Nicole Ohlde. The 6-foot-4-inch center repeatedly found herself being trapped by senior Tamara Bowie and the closest Ball State guard, continually keeping her from the basket.
But, according to Roller, the key for the team was to win the highly emphasized rebounding battle. Going in at the half, the Cards were down by only a single board. Nonetheless, as the horn sounded for the second half, Ohlde led her team in quickly dissolving Ball State's three-point halftime lead.
With acrobatic rebounds and drives to the basket, Ohlde kept Ball State from playing its style of defense, thus allowing for more open looks for
Ohlde and forward Kendra Wecker. By the end of the night, Ohlde amassed 18 points and 16 rebounds, and Wecker led the Wildcats with 20 points.
"I think they figured out what we were doing, how we were doubling down on Ohlde," Bowie said. "They really spread (their offense) out so that the double would have to come from a lot farther away on the passes."
Nonetheless, refusing to give up, the Cardinals scrappy style of play and taking care of the ball kept Ball State in the game, as the lead changed several times, with leads never getting greater than six points on either side. Ball State had nine turnovers and stole the ball 11 times in the game while forcing Kansas State into 17 on the night.
But the dagger in the heart for the Cardinals was their inability to hit the big shots when needed. In fact, hitting a shot became a problem for them as they only hit eight of 30 three-pointer attempts. For the night, the Cardinals only managed 29 percent shooting from the field, including 27 percent in the second half.
"I can't even believe we shot 29 percent," junior Johna Goff said. "Maybe it was the atmosphere on the court, I had no idea we shot that horrible."
Goff led the game with 23 points, but could only hit eight of her 19 shot attempts. Bowie led the Cards with a double-double, amassing 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"They just showed that they wanted it more than we did," Bowie said. "And they just took it to us."
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