In the midst of a three-way tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division, the women's basketball team will try to stretch its winning streak to five this weekend.
The team hosts the Miami RedHawks on Sunday at noon. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net (Ohio) and the team is hoping for a record-breaking crowd.
"It's a big game: It's a TV game, it's a rival game, it's a home game," head coach Tracy Roller said. "We have lots of reasons to play, but so do they."
Miami is a team heading in the opposite direction of the Cardinals, having lost four straight after starting the conference season with two wins.
Miami's three guards average a combined 38.1 points and Roller said her team will have to keep all of them under their average to avoid a shootout, something she doesn't want.
"I don't want to get in a shootout; I want to be able to stop people," Roller said. "We're just going to have to throw the kitchen sink at them defensively and hope our guards can stop them."
The RedHawks are led by junior Cindi Merrill, who averages 16.1 points per game. Sophomore Amanda Jackson and senior Nicki Motto add 12.2 and 9.8 points, respectively.
Ball State continues to look to senior Kate Endress, who has scored at least 20 points in all but one MAC game this season. At Western Michigan on Wednesday, she scored a season-high 28 points, only one short of her career high, in a 79-70 win.
Roller said she is hoping to break the school attendance record of 4,030. The team struggled the last time it played in front of a large crowd, but that was against national title contender Duke. Roller said she still worries a little about how her team will react.
"That's what you play for," she said. "We have the confidence, too, which helps."
The Miami game will also mark the beginning of a 10-day stretch in which the team plays four games. With the top four teams in the West Division all having two losses, finding a way to gain separation is key.
"After Bowling Green (the fourth game) I will feel a lot better about where we stand," Roller said.
Keeping the team focused during a winning streak is also something Roller said needs attention, especially with a young team.
"Sometimes doing the little things becomes the last thing you want to do," she said. "That's where our staff has got to make sure the focus is."
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