Bowie's effort goes in vain

"I think a lot of our team thinks our offense is what gets us excited or fired up," head coach Tracy Roller said. "I know the first three or four shots (in the second half) we didn't hit. I keep harping on our defense. I keep telling (the team) that one day we're not going to hit our shots. I was just hoping it wouldn't be against Toledo."

Even though Toledo (16-6, 9-2) was without its leading scorer, senior Tia Davis, the Rockets found little trouble scoring on the undersized Ball State defense. Bowie and junior Jessica Reiter could do little to stop Toledo's Karin Hoogendam and Teresa Kahle as they continually hit shots over the outstretched arms of the Ball State defenders to keep the game close.

"We've had trouble against the post all year," Bowie said. "We have to expect that people are going to keep throwing it in the middle. We have just got to find a way to defend it. Tonight just wasn't that night."

Bowie's 32 points is the most points by a Cardinal player this season, and her 11 rebounds gave Bowie her eighth double-double of the season. Nonetheless, even with two steals and two blocks, Bowie was flying solo as the next scorer for Ball State was freshman Dana Collins - who was returning from a foot injury - with eight points.

"Bowie had such a career night, but she had no help," Roller said. "We usually have three or four people in double figures."

The ever team-minded Bowie seemed to take the loss to heart as she offered no excuses and shook her head in wonderment of what might have been.

"We lost to them earlier and you always want to get revenge," Bowie said. "I did everything I could, it just didn't come out the way I planned."

But the ever-pessimistic Roller conceded that no matter how many shots Ball State did not hit or how many 3-point shots the team took, the underlying factor to the loss is solely in the hands of the Cardinals inability to play defense.

"We score in the 70s and sometimes 80s and we still lose," Roller said. "How many teams do you know that score 73 points and still lose? We have to start playing defense or we're not going to get better."