If the Ball State women's basketball team can come away with a win on Saturday against the Akron Zips, then head coach Tracy Roller will tie the all-time winningest coach in Ball State history. She has already reached the 50-win mark more quickly than any other coach, and can become the all-time winningest with two more wins, passing Robyn Markey, who compiled a 54-127 record.
Roller arrived four years ago as an assistant coach under Brenda Oldfield, who compiled a 35-22 record in two years before Roller took over the reins of a program in a turnaround. Before Oldfield's 16-13 season her first year, Ball State had not seen a winning season in 10 years.
Roller will face an Akron team that has struggled in past years and sits at the bottom of the MAC East division with its 5-9 overall and 0-3 conference record. Second-year head coach Kelly Kennedy has already doubled last season's win total and will look to triple it on Saturday night.
Roller won't be banking on a win, however, saying, "If you do, you're in trouble and you're going to take a loss."
Ever since Ball State suffered a loss to Toledo, Roller has put less emphasis on scouting reports and more on the team itself.
"Practice has really been focusing on us and what we need to do better and getting more aggressive so we can handle pressure," senior Johna Goff said.
One thing the team could do better is lower its turnovers. In the last four games, the team has averaged 20.5 turnovers a game, while its opponents have averaged only 13.3.
"It's not mental stuff; it's just them beating the crap out of us and us losing the ball," Goff said about the turnovers.
Turnovers may be high for the Cardinals, but so is scoring. They are averaging 73.1 points per game, while Akron averages only 53.4 points per game, with junior Lori Krezeczowski leading the team with 12.2 points. Freshman Mandy Holzer leads the team with a 5.1 rebounding average.
The Cardinals continue to get step-up performances from everyone on the team. Freshman Becca Bajorek had a career night on Tuesday against Ohio, pitching in 10 points in the 73-70 win. Freshman Kelsey Corbin and Tina Bolte have also had breakout games down the stretch. The Cardinals continue to be led by junior Kate Endress, who averages 19.8 points per game, and senior Jessica Reiter, who averages 10.8 rebounds per game.
With a 3-1 record in the MAC and a quarter of conference play over, the Cardinals are on pace to match last season's 12-4 MAC record.
"We still haven't had everyone play well at the same time," Roller said. "I can't say it enough: We have not even gotten close to our potential, we haven't gotten close to peaking, we haven't gotten close to where we should be."
While the matchup doesn't look even on paper, Roller is worried about the work ethic the Zips will bring.
"They're not going to come in here and just lay down," Roller said. "I'm worried about our mentality as a team and how we going to handle that. Are we going to go out and play like we need to play, or are we going to let them dictate the game?"
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