Ball State's women's basketball team ran into a tougher Cardinalin Tuesday night's game against Louisville. The Kentucky Cardinalsbeat Ball State 94-86 after senior guard Sara Nord -- who had 31points, 12 assists and no turnovers -- led the team.
Ball State tied the score three times in the first five minutesof the game but never took the lead in the first half. Louisville'sNord spurred a 14-0 run with her 3-pointer at the 13:06 mark.Junior Kate Endress ended the run with her three that helped BSU goon an 8-0 run to get the score to 17-23.
In the last four minutes of the first half, Ball State gotwithin as many as four points but went into halftime down35-43.
Endress led first half scoring with 13, while Johna Goff,Jessica Reiter and Raechelle Hampton all went into the half withfive. Nord, who had 17 along with two steals and five assists, ledLouisville.
Ball State came out after the break and completed a 10-2 run offa Dana Collins 3-pointer that tied the game at 45. After a jumperby Louisville's Connie Neal, Ball State took its first lead of thegame off another Collins 3-pointer. Seconds later, Reiter addedanother trey to put Ball State up 51-47.
"We knew at halftime that we had to cut the lead right away witha good team like Louisville, so we tried to go out and get all overthem from the start," Endress said. "We brought ourselves back inthe game."
Louisville would not back down, though, going on a 9-0 run thatanother BSU trey from Collins would later break. An up-and-down andback-and-forth game that got the crowd in Worthen Arena energizedfollowed.
Neither team led by more than five until the 2:16 mark, whenLouisville's Jazz Covington converted a layup. From that point,Louisville was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. This enabledthem to keep a lead of at least four points the rest of thegame.
With 15 seconds left, and down six, Endress got missed a jumper,and Hampton's rebound and put-back missed as well. Nord came awaywith the ball and ran down the court to put some icing on the cakewith her layup, making the final score 94-86.
Nord's 31 points was a career high for her, while her 12 assistswas one short of tieing her career best. She also played the entire40 minutes and converted those 12 assists with no turnovers. It wasthe third time this season Ball State has allowed an opponent toscore her career high.
"I think we've had one every game; we're givers," head coachTracy Roller said. "I'm not sure the men's team could have stoppedSara Nord tonight. She was unbelievable."
Ball State had four players in double figures. Endress, whofinished with 24 points, led the team; Goff had 15, and Reiter andHampton both had 13. Reiter also pulled down 10 rebounds for herthird double-double of the year. Senior Julie Just had a careerhigh in assists with six.
"I think it was one of our better (offensive) games thisseason," Reiter said. "There were times when it fell apart whenthey knew our plays, and we weren't smart and didn't playbasketball."
Louisville's head coach Tom Collen, who did color commentary forBall State's televised games last year, and his wife Nicki Collen,who was an assistant coach, returned to Worthen Arena, and itproved tough for both sides.
"When we were down before the game talking and discussing ourteams and everything, we both at the same time, Tom and I, said,'We hate these games,'" Roller said. "It was a lose-lose situation.I know both of us realized someone was gong to lose, and it wasgoing to be a down night for one of us."
Roller said she thought this game was Ball State's bestoffensive performance of the year but thought she needed a littlemore from the team's defense.
"We haven't yet been able to put two ends of the courts togetherat the same time," Roller said. "When we do, we're going to bescary, really scary."
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