The Ball State University women's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack and overall team effort to capture its own tournament Sunday.
The Cardinals (4-0) had five players score in double figures, beating North Dakota State 65-54 in the Ball State Credit Union Classic final.
"Every challenge I put forth to them, they really step up and try to reach it," Roller said. "I'm really proud of this team."
Krista Stewart led the Cardinals with 15 points. She scored a career-high 20 points in her first career start in the Cards 88-53 win over Lipscomb University on Saturday.
"I just go out there and play," said Stewart, who was named to the All-Tournament team. "If I score five points or 20, it doesn't matter to me as long as we come out with a win."
Julie DeMuth was named tournament MVP. DeMuth scored 11 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and made five steals in the championship game. She had 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals on Saturday.
Kelsey Corbin scored 10 points, had eight rebounds and eight assists on Sunday and was named to the All-Tournament team.
"It keeps continuing to be the unusual suspects," Roller said. "You just don't know which one of us is going to hurt you. That's hard to play against, and it's fun to watch."
Raechelle Hampton scored 11 points and collected eight boards. She had 13 points and five rebounds on Saturday.
"We set a goal to win it, and it feels good to accomplish that goal," Hampton said.
Katie Lorenz, the Bison leading scorer at 14 points per game entering the tournament, was held to four points on 2-of-13 shooting.
"We knew we had to take their point guard out of the game because she was such a great player," Roller said. "We did a really good job on her, I thought."
All 11 players who dressed scored in the Cardinals win over Lipscomb on Saturday. Ball State shot better than 50 percent from the field and forced 29 turnovers.
Roller said the tournament victory will be a key for the rest of the season.
"The thing we take out of this is a lot of confidence and a lot of confidence down the line," Roller said. "I think everybody knows that we won as a team. It wasn't one player that won us this championship - it was the entire team."
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