Head coach Tracy Roller tied the all-time winningest mark in Ball State women's basketball history, but she wasn't the only one having a career night in the 81-62 defeat of the Akron Zips. Four Cardinal players were able to either tie or break one of their career marks.
"Each game I keep looking at the stats and see another person that steps up for us," Roller said. "It's like we're starting to learn the game; we're starting to get to the point where we play together."
One of the most impressive performances came from senior Jessica Reiter, who recorded her seventh double-double of the season and 20th of her career. She pulled down 18 boards, matching a career-high mark set earlier this year, and also tying the Worthen Arena record. She added 15 points in her 33 minutes of play.
"She works so hard, and that gets you a lot of things," Roller said about Reiter. "She's just one of those kids that's going after all of her goals right now."
Sophomore Raechelle Hampton was also able to set a career high in scoring with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, which bettered her previous mark of 14 set earlier this season.
Freshman Tina Bolte rewrote four of her previous marks. Her nine points, which came off of 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arch, beat her career highs in points and three-pointers. She also bettered her rebounding high of three and assist high of two with five in each category.
Senior Johna Goff, who led Ball State offensively with 20 points and seven assists, scored the first four points for the Cardinals, including a jumper that broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Cardinals a lead they would hold the entire game.
Ball State didn't get its first double-digit advantage until 4:06 remained in the first half, and later used a Reiter layup with 26 seconds left to take a 38-27 lead into halftime.
Akron used a 13-5 run out of the break to get within 43-40, but that's as close as the Zips got in the second half. The Cardinals closed out the game, outscoring the Zips 38-12.
While the Cardinals had plenty of positives in the game, they still ended with 20 turnovers, while Akron committed 23.
"Hopefully, in the next couple practices we start to realize that we can't turn the ball over anymore," Goff said. "Not that Akron is terrible, but fortunately tonight we could get away with 20 turnovers, but we're not going to be able to do that anymore."
Junior Kate Endress, the team's leading scorer, battled a back injury and only played 23 minutes, earning nine points and three rebounds.
With less than a minute remaining in the contest, freshman Teran Warner, who had played just two minutes all season, was able to score on a layup and get the first points of her career. The Cardinals bench jumped up in cheers for the freshman who was sidelined during the beginning of the season with an injury.
With the win the Cardinals move to 9-7 overall and 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference, which puts them in second place in the West Division.
"I think right now, we were just at a point in our season where we needed to start getting some wins," Roller said. "It's helping all of our confidences, so I think this was a big win for us tonight."
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