Last Thursday, when the Ball State women's basketball team circled around halfcourt at the end of practice, senior Johna Goff, who always decides what the team will chant at the end, decided to have everyone say "MAC Champs."
After its 80-71 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday, the team is one step closer to that. Ball State, the No. 9 seed, will now face the top-seeded Miami RedHawks in Cleveland's Gund Arena on Wednesday in the Mid-American Quarterfinals.
"That was our mentality," head coach Tracy Roller said about Goff's chant. "It doesn't matter what we've done in the regular season up to this point. Our goal (to win the MAC) is still the same as it's been all year."
While the Cardinals are one step closer, they will face a tough challenge from the No. 1-seeded RedHawks, who went 14-2 in the MAC and 20-7 overall. One of their two conference losses came on the last game of the regular season, when they lost 79-73 to Kent State, breaking the RedHawks' 12-game winning streak.
The Cardinals came close to handing them a loss almost two weeks ago. They hung with Miami for 30 minutes, but fell short in the final 10, losing 75-65. Cindi Merrill was the key in the RedHawks' victory as she finished with a game-high 25 points.
"We just don't have the physical banging three(-spot) player that can keep (Merrill) from rebounding and guard her (3-point range) and guard her on the drive at the same time," Roller said. "I think by committee we can do a better job then we did the first time."
For the Cardinals in that matchup, freshman Kelsey Corbin scored 19 points in the second half to finish with a career-high 21 points. She and the four other starters all scored in double figures in their first-round win against Northern. The Cards will need that type of production again.
Junior Kate Endress leads the team in scoring and ranks second in the MAC with 19.3 points per game. Senior Jessica Reiter also appears on the MAC charts as the top rebounder, with 10.3 per game, and senior Johna Goff is the Cards' second-leading scorer, averaging 13.2 points per game.
Miami is led by Colleen Day, who averages 14.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Miami also averages three others in double figures, with Merrill getting 14 per game, Kim Lancaster, 12.8, and Amanda Jackson, 12.3.
While Merrill worries Roller the most as a matchup problem, she worries about Day's attitude as well.
"Out of all the people that I have watched play this year, Colleen Day refuses to lose," Roller said. "She will not let her team go 20-7 and lose in the quarterfinals.
"Although we can match up to her pretty well, I think her mentality is what we have to match. If we do that, we'll be fine; but if not, she will refuse to lose."
While mentality remains a question mark, everybody on the team feels like she is peaking at the right time, and that will only lead to good things.
"We think we're playing our best right now, and it's only going to get better," Goff said. "I think the upperclassmen, the veterans, the people that have been there are going to lead this team to doing something pretty amazing. "
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