The women's basketball team has several things to play for in the final weeks of its regular season.
Ball State is still in a race for a first-round bye in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, and it's also near the end for lone senior Kate Endress.
"It's a special week for our team because it's the last time we'll be with Kate together," head coach Tracy Roller said.
Ball State will play the first of its final three games Wednesday against Toledo in Worthen Arena. Both teams enter the contest with 12-12 overall and 8-5 conference records. They are tied for third place in the MAC West Division and a game out of earning a bye.
While the Cardinals need to get past Toledo to keep its first-round-bye hopes alive, Roller said preparation is more about her team than it is about what Toledo does.
"We're not playing Toledo right now; we're playing for ourselves," she said. "We have a great chance to do something. We are in control of our destiny."
The idea of preparation being about themselves more than the other team is something Endress says has existed all season.
"I think everything we've been working on all year is really thinking and focusing on the MAC Tournament," Endress said. "Toledo's just our next game to try and get better for that MAC Tournament."
This will be the second meeting between the schools this season. Ball State lost 74-62, its fifth straight loss to the Rockets.
"We're going to have to bring our A-game, but honestly it's not because of Toledo. It's because it's time," Roller said. "We need to bring that consistently right now."
Endress, who leads the MAC in scoring with 17.8 points per game, said she's trying not to think too much about her final games.
"Obviously the sense of finality has set in," she said. "I just really need to play a good game, I haven't really played well, personally, in the last few games.
"This is it for me. I'm just going to lay it out on the line from here on out."
Sophomore Kelsey Corbin said it's hard to believe the stretch run for Endress has come.
"It's scary to think that this is Kate's last week of her regular season," Corbin said. "All of us are just relishing in it and taking advantage of the time we have left with her on the court and trying to learn those extra few things from her before she gets her butt out of here."
Ball State is at least guaranteed a first-round home game at this point, and if the season ended today, that would be against the No. 11 seed Northern Illinois. The team will play it's final home game of the year on Saturday against Ohio before traveling to Central Michigan to close out the season.
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