During the late 1990s, the Ball State women's basketball team had many classic shootouts that involved very little defense and a whole lot of scoring. The offensive onslaught of that day and age was highlighted by Bowling Green's 106-105 victory over the Cardinals in 1999.
Tonight could bring back the memories of old as the Cardinals host the Falcons in a game that head coach Tracy Roller called a possible scoring frenzy.
"They are really more offensive than we are," Roller said. "There is basically two ways that the game could turn out: one is a shootout and the other is a defensive battle."
With senior Tamara Bowie leading the Mid-American Conference in scoring for Ball State and All-MAC selection Francine Miller leading Bowling Green, Roller hinted towards the possibility of a shootout being more likely.
While Bowie is primarily an offensive threat, she will be handed the task of containing Miller and her slashing style of play from the power forward position.
"No one has figured out how to take Miller out of the equation totally," Roller said. "The only place we will face a problem is if Bowie gets herself into foul trouble early. If that happens, Miller will be able to have more of her way on offense."
The Falcons (9-6, 2-2 MAC) generally use a 2-3 zone on defense, a type of defense the Cardinals (10-4, 4-0) have struggled against at times this season.
Nonetheless, Roller said additional preparation and recent success against zone defenses has readied the Cardinals for what Bowling Green could run.
"We've been hitting our outside shots, and when you do that, it pretty much kills a zone," she said. "But we've just been reversing the ball better, having a better inside-outside game, and having good high-low play. We're just using our resources better and it's not really that we are playing better, but we are playing smarter."
Still, in the end Roller said it is going to come down to the Cardinals being able to stop the Falcons and their multi-faceted attack.
"It would be huge for us to shut them down on offense," Roller said. "They are so good on offense, that it would really say something about where we are at and what is in store for the rest of the year."
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