For the second straight game, the women's basketball team hit better than 50 percent from the floor.
That effort, combined with what head coach Tracy Roller called her teams best defensive performance of the season, gave Ball State an 81-60 win over Toledo.
"That was the best defensive game I've seen this season, and it started with Kelsey Corbin and Erica Cotton and it just energized through," Roller said.
The Cardinals full court pressure defense forced Toledo to commit 24 turnovers, which they used to score 16 points.
"We really spent a lot of time on our defense this week," Roller said. "We were so specific, and our team just executed it perfectly."
Corbin helped pressure the guards, mainly Crystal Young, up the court and many times got Toledo's offense out of sync.
"Kelsey was all over that girl right from the start, and it really set the tone," sophomore Becca Bajorek said. "That was probably the best defensive game we've played all year."
Senior Kate Endress said the team's defense helped the Cardinals' entire game.
"It's just a spark," Endress said. "It started from the guards pressuring the ball full court, and it made us play our tempo of basketball. It was contagious."
Ball State shot 64 percent in the second half and ended with a 52 percent field goal percentage, its highest of the season. The Cardinals also had a season high 23 assists on its 34 baskets.
"I just thought we did a good job working together tonight for the first time in awhile," Endress said.
Ball State got production from almost everyone who saw playing time. Four players finished in double figures, led by Endress who had 18. Bajorek and sophomore Tina Bolte each added 14, while junior Raechelle Hampton put up 10. Two others had eight and one had seven.
"As we start going down the wire here, we've got to have a full roster of execution and talent, and I feel like we're there now," Roller said.
Early on, Corbin was the only offense the Cardinals had, scoring the teams first six points. Neither team could gain an advantage until the Cardinals went on a 10-3 run in the middle of the first half, giving them a 23-16 advantage.
Ball State stretched its lead to double digits twice at the end of the first half, first when Endress assisted on a Bajorek layup and again when Endress hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining. Toledo scored with seven seconds left, cutting the lead to 39-30 at the half.
Ball State's 3-pointer at the end of the half was Endress' first of the game; before that shot, she had gone just 2-10 from the floor and was 0-5 from behind the arc.
After the break, Ball State maintained a double digit lead for most of the second half.
Toledo scored five straight towards the middle to cut the lead back to nine, but Ball State used a run with three treys to get a 19-point lead. They were set from there on out. Cotton's jumper with 44 seconds remaining gave the team its largest lead of 25 points.
Jasmine House had a career night off the bench for the Rockets with 14 points, but Ball State held Toledo's starters down for the most part. Danielle Bishop led the team with 15 points and Savannah Werner added 10.
With the win Ball State broke a tie with Toledo and has sole possession of third place in the MAC west division.
"A win like Toledo just solidifies the confidence that you hope your team has," Roller said. "You try and tell your team how good you are, but you just need a win like that."
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