TERRE HAUTE -- The second-half lapses that caused the women's basketball team three straight losses turned into a full-blown collapse Saturday at Indiana State.
Ball State dropped its fourth and fell to 2-4 after scoring only 14 points in the second half of a 76-42 defeat. Head coach Tracy Roller said her young team is getting lessons, but it's not helping.
"We're getting the experience but we're not learning from them," Roller said. "I know we have the talent, I think we have the leadership, I think we have the coaching, but for some reason we're not executing in the second half.
"Now it's gotten to the point where that's all we think about."
The Cardinals went into halftime down only 29-28, but came out after the break and could not do anything on either end of the court.
A free throw by sophomore Kelsey Corbin and layups from junior Raechelle Hampton and sophomore Becca Bajorek kept the team in it early. However, after Bajorek's layup with 16:35 remaining the Cardinals wouldn't score again until freshman Lisa Rusche converted a layup with 6:14. By then the Sycamores had scored 28 straight points.
"I thought their overall attitude was completely different in the second half," Roller said of the Sycamores. "They really picked up their defensive intensity, they were all over the ball and pushed it up the floor a lot more."
Anne Thatcher sparked the run for Indiana State with two straight three-pointers. That was really all the Sycamores needed to make it look like the first-half Ball State team went home at the break.
"All we needed was just a spark to get going," Thatcher said. "I knew once we hit one that we'd get on a roll."
Since Indiana State is such a defensive team, Roller said that made the second-half lapse even worse then the previous ones.
"Once we got that one-two punch with threes from her and turnovers from the press it just feel about from there," Roller said.
Ball State's field-goal percentage in the second half was 16.7 percent. The only goals the Cardinals had were layups (five) and free throws (four), and they shot 5 of 25 from the field.
Indiana State had three players in finish in double figures, including Ashley Clark with 20 and Melanie Boeglin with 19. The Cardinals didn't have anyone in double figures.
Senior Kate Endress led Ball State with her nine points and 10 rebounds. Two others, Hampton and junior Krista Stewart, had six points. Endress said she doesn't want to label the team as bad second-half performers and that it's time for a soul search before their next game against Saint Louis on Friday.
"The first thing we have to do is gut check," Endress said. "We're just not bringing it."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
