The Ball State and Eastern Michigan women's basketball teams have not exactly been following their preseason predictions.
The Cardinals were picked to finish fifth out of seven teams in the Mid-American Conference West division, while the Eagles were picked to win the division title.
The two teams are in opposite positions today, with BSU in first and Eastern in fourth.
Tonight Ball State will try to stretch its winning streak to six when the two teams meet at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Mich.
"They're just the next team in our way for what our ultimate goal is, which is a MAC title," head coach Tracy Roller said.
The schools had differing success in their non-conference schedules. Eastern lost only one game, 56-42 to Indiana, while Ball State went 4-7 and even lost its first conference game. The Cardinals have since won six of seven and five straight, but Roller said Eastern provides a tough matchup.
"They had one loss in the non-conference season for one reason," Roller said. "They're a scary team."
The Eagles have the conference's best defense, allowing only 55.3 points per game. On the other side senior Ryan Coleman averages 16.4 points per game to lead an offense that scores 69.3 points per game.
"We've got to either find a way to stop a good offensive team or beat a good defensive group," Roller said.
Eastern is also the league's top rebounding team, but Ball State is the second-best rebounding team and wants to prove it's worthy of being the best.
"The real test in that statement is to play another great rebounding team," Roller said. "They're deep for every reason but they're really deep for rebounding.
"Our kids have taken ownership of that statistic."
Ball State has had impressive numbers over its five-game winning streak.
They outscore opponents by a 14-point margin, average a 41.8 to 32.4 rebounding advantage and outshoot opponents .422 to .383 (.356 to .250 from behind the three-point arc).
Individually senior Kate Endress is one of three players averaging double figures with 23 points per game. Sophomore Tina Bolte and freshman Julie DeMuth are each averaging 12.2. DeMuth is also averaging 10.6 rebounds per game over the win streak.
Ball State has had only one day to prepare for Eastern since it played on Sunday and took its mandated day off Monday.
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