The Ball State women?s basketball team members have plenty on their minds as they get ready to face the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday. After losing to Eastern Michigan 100-83, which sent them to third place in the Mid-American Conference West with a 9-8 overall and 4-2 MAC record, the Cardinals will look to get their confidence back.
?Our mindset is definitely that we have to come out and play a lot harder with a lot more emotion,? senior Julie Just said. ?That?s really what Ball State basketball?s all about, and we haven?t been showing it.?
The Cardinals believe much of the reason for their turnover problems is not due to fundamental problems, but rather mental.
?It?s about 10 percent about what the other team is doing to us right now,? head coach Tracy Roller said. ?The other 90 percent is just us not taking care of the ball.?
The Cardinals should have a chance to improve in the turnover category on Saturday as they face a Buffalo team that doesn?t press a lot or play much zone defense, which are often two contributors to the high amount of turnovers the Cardinals have.
?Hopefully, unless they change their way, this could be a team that we could build some confidence in and get back to our way,? Roller said.
The Cardinals also need to perform better on the defensive end of the court. Against Eastern Michigan they let six players score in double figures, including four who had 17 or more points.
?We need to take ownership for ourselves, and we have to trust our teammates in terms of defense,? Just said. ?We know we can do it, and we have confidence in each other, we just have to get it all together and play together.?The Cardinals will have to stop senior Jessica Kochendorfer, who leads Buffalo with an average of 20.7 points per game in its last three contests. The preseason All-MAC East Division selection also leads the team with 8.2 rebounds. Roller said there might be a few match-up concerns with Kochendorfer, but thought her team should be able to handle everybody else.
The Cardinals continue to be led by junior Kate Endress, averaging 19.3 points per game, which places her second in the conference. Senior Johna Goff is the other player averaging double figures, with 13.4, and senior Jessica Reiter is very close to averaging a double-double each game, with 9.9 points and a MAC-leading 11.1 rebounds.
While Roller believes that Endress, Goff and Reiter are playing well, she wants to be able to see a total team effort on Saturday.
?We?ve had a lot of excitement from an individual standpoint, but we haven?t quite had the entire team step up,? Roller said. ?The consistency is probably what I?m looking for the most.?
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