All head coach Tracy Roller could do was sigh after narrowly avoiding a loss to Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference season-opener at Worthen Arena, 74-71. With 6:35 remaining in the game, the Cardinals held a 17-point advantage, only to watch the Huskies go on a 21-5 run to cut the lead to one point.
After tight defense by Northern kept the high-powered Cardinal offense in check for the majority of the first half, senior Tamara Bowie scored 18 of her 20 first-half points in the final eight minutes, leading Ball State to a 10-point halftime lead as the Cardinals' defense shut down the Huskie offense as Bowie continually made difficult shots look easy.
"I thought, as a coach, the first half was fun to watch the two (teams) play defense," Roller said. "We just got a couple, lucky 'Bowie-was-hitting shots.' That had to be frustrating for Northern, to be playing such good defense and Bowie was just on fire."
But the defensive-minded Huskie team made its adjustments at halftime and shut Bowie down, leading her to call the second half "the worst half of basketball in my career."
"We relaxed a lot in the second half and they got more physical," Bowie said. "Just a combination of those two made it the worst."
In the absence of Bowie's scoring, juniors Johna Goff and Julie Just stepped up to pick up the slack as each hit key 3-pointers as the Cardinals (7-4, 1-0 MAC) built its largest lead at 18 points. During the stretch, Goff hit two straight 3-pointers and Just hit all four of her shots from behind the arc.
"We knew they were going to pressure Bowie in the second half," Goff said, whose two 3-pointers tied the Ball State record for most made in a career with 152. "Coach told us to be ready to hit our shots, and we shooters were out there and Bowie kicked it out we she got doubled."
But the Ball State lead that seemed safe quickly dwindled as Northern (4-8, 0-1 MAC) took advantage of turnovers and began chipping away at the lead with its tight defense that allowed only nine points in the final eight minutes.
"We just couldn't get Bowie the ball," Roller said. "Of course Johna and Julie were hitting, but then that stopped. And when it did, we still couldn't get Bowie the ball."
Huskie senior Kristin Knake led the charge, hitting all three of her 3-pointers in the final four minutes, including one with 26 seconds to bring the game within one point.
"We just didn't guard them," Roller said. "Our post played well for 35 minutes and then just let them score at will."
But in the end, it was sophomore Kate Endress' two free throws -- her only two points of the game -- that sealed the win. Roller said that all she hoped was that the team would learn from the game, and really focus on the MAC schedule.
"Especially the freshmen don't know what the MAC really is," Roller said. "No one is going to quit, and no one is going to lay down and die because every game from now on means something, and we have to know that, too."
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