AKRON, Ohio - On what became known throughout the Mid-American Conference women's basketball as "Upset Saturday," three of the top four teams in the league were upset. Toledo and Western Michigan - tied for first in the West - were beaten by Bowling Green and Ohio, respectively. Then in the East, No. 1 Miami lost to No. 2 Kent State in a one-point thriller.
Ball State - tied for Toledo and Western for first in the West - seemed to be in the clear as it played Akron, the last-place team in the MAC that had won only one game in league play the last two years combined.
But the Cardinals (15-5, 9-1 MAC) nearly succumbed to the upset bug as the Zips (2-19, 1-9) pushed Ball State to the brink only to fall short, 74-64.
"We talked about it before the game, it's that time of year when everyone is getting better," head coach Tracy Roller said. "You're playing away on another person's home court, anything could happen. You've got to be ready to come and play."
Playing without starting freshman point guard Dana Collins, the Cardinals relied on the play of junior Johna Goff, who switched to the point guard position in Collins' absence. Having to adjust her role, Goff only attempted only five shots, well short of the 13 she averages for the year.
Nonetheless, she dished out a season-high eight assists, to go with five rebounds and eight points - well short of her season average of 15 points per game.
"The past two years I have been switching on and off at the point," Goff said. "It wasn't a big deal or a big change; it was just something I had to do."
Despite Goff's effort and senior Tamara Bowie's 20 points, Akron's defense continually shut down Ball State's vaunted offense, forcing 16 turnovers and blocking four shots.
Akron senior Casandra Martin and Cydney Overton controlled play in the post with their superior height as the undersized Cardinals were out-played by the more physical Zips.
"We started off playing behind (Martin and Overton), then we switched to fronting them," Roller said. "Akron did a good job of, when we were in front, sealing for a lob and getting around our players"
But after the Cardinals let a 17-point halftime lead dwindle to as low as eight points, Bowie led the Cardinals down the stretch, scoring six of her 20 points in the final minute to secure the win.
"We just couldn't match Akron's intensity from anyone," Roller said. "But it really says something about us as once again we didn't play well but we had the guts to pull it together in the end and get the victory."
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