After three weeks and 17 practices, the Ball State University women's basketball team will play its first exhibition game. The Cardinals play Ohio Legends at 7 p.m. tonight at Worthen Arena.
This is the first of two exhibition games for the Cardinals, as they will also play the Hoosier Stars. The team opens regular season play Nov. 19 at Murray State.
Coach Tracy Roller said she scheduled the first exhibition early so her players could have a chance to get experience early.
"It's a good chance for the newcomers to get their feet wet," Roller said. "I'm ready, and I'm sure the players are ready to go against somebody other than the practice team or scout team."
Ohio Legends features an 11-person team with former collegiate players from Butler, Indiana, Miami and Ohio State.
"I'm not as worried about them as I am about us and getting experience we can get from this opportunity," Roller said.
Three freshmen (Porchia Green, Kiley Jarrett, Dana Moorman) and a transfer (Stephanie Douglas) are new to the team, meanwhile Kate Endress and Dana Collins are gone from last year's team.
Roller said the mix of current players with the newcomers has created an athletic team.
"We've had a lot of great players," she said. "Hard work in combination with recruiting athletic athletes makes this top to bottom the most athletic team I've ever had."
The early game enables the Cardinals to test theirs skills against an unfamiliar opponent, but Roller said the team hasn't had enough practices. She said the players have been working hard and this game will be good especially for the newcomers.
"It's a chance for everybody to get out the butterflies and get better for the regular season," Roller said.
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