The women's basketball team managed to avoid consecutive losses Saturday against Northern Illinois. After losing at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday the Cardinals defeated the Huskies 70-64 on the road.
The team has not lost consecutive Mid-American Conference games this season and moved to 11-10 overall and 7-3 in the MAC.
"We had to win to stay in the mix," head coach Tracy Roller said. "We're just thinking right now about trying to get a bye to Cleveland."
With the win the Cardinals remained a half-game behind Bowling Green for the West Division lead, and they could overcome that deficit on Tuesday when the two teams meet in Worthen Arena.
Senior Kate Endress scored 28 points, one shy of her career high, for the second time this season to boost the Cardinals. She went six for 14 from the floor, including four for six from behind the arc, and was also 12 for 12 from the line.
In a statistically close match, the Cardinals had two distinct advantages -- from behind the arc and on the boards. The Cardinals went eight for 20 from 3-point range, compared to Northern's three for 14 and out-rebounded the Huskies 42-33.
Roller said the Cardinals switching to a zone defense in the second half really helped, especially on the boards.
"I really thought our defense in the second half was key," Roller said.
The game never featured a lead larger then eight points, and until Northern went on a 12-5 run towards the end of the first half, no team led by more then five. The run gave the Huskies a 32-25 advantage, and Ball State chipped it down to 36-32 at the half.
Northern continued to hold a lead for much of the second half. The Cardinals got within one point three times before tying the game at 46-46 with 11:24 remaining.
Ball State tied the game once more before a 3-pointer by Endress with 8:18 remaining gave the Cardinals a lead for good at 51-50. Endress hit another 3 later to give the Cardinals a four-point advantage.
"I never felt confident about that game until Kate hit that 3 to get us the distance," Roller said.
Besides Endress' 28 and Tina Bolte's 12, the Cardinals got eight from junior Krista Stewart, who made two of BSU's 3-pointers.
"Krista's been really playing well lately," Roller said. "I thought she did a great job in her minutes on both ends of the court."
Sophomore Kelsey Corbin and junior Raechelle Hampton each added six points. Freshman Julie DeMuth led the team with 11 rebounds, while Endress added 10.
"That was winning ugly at its finest," Roller said. "Honestly we just played well enough to win."
The Cardinals practiced yesterday, but Roller was unsure of how motivated her team was going to be Tuesday. They now have one day left to prepare for Bowling Green.
"It's probably going to be really hard to be motivated today because everyone is thinking about the Super Bowl," Roller said. "Two days is not near enough time to get ready for Bowling Green."
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