With the non-conference season over, the women's basketball team has now turned its focus to the Mid-American Conference.
Ball State University (7-5) lost at Toledo in overtime 83-79 Saturday to open MAC play. It was the second straight overtime loss for the Cardinals as they fell 70-69 at Santa Clara on Jan. 31.
Julie DeMuth led the BSU scoring attack against the Rockets with a season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds. It was DeMuth's fifth double-double of the season.
"We started really slow - the sluggish start that hurt us from the beginning," coach Tracy Roller said. "Toledo is a tough place to play. I'm pretty proud of our team. They never gave up and had a lot of heart."
The Cardinals went 1-4 over Christmas Break. They suffered a buzzer-beating loss at Wright State 77-74 and lost to No. 2 Duke 110-24. Ball State's lone win came against St. Mary's College (California), 63-52.
"We know we're young as we have only one senior," Roller said. "We're learning and getting better each day. The two teams at California were very good. Against Toledo we had a bad start then played a great game. We can't feel too down at this point."
Ball State is near the midpoint of its season. The Cardinals have played 12 games and have eight conference home games and seven conference road games remaining.
The first conference home game is Saturday at 7 p.m. against Central Michigan.
"The break was great because we had the break with finals, then Christmas off and basically had the week off before our game at Toledo," Roller said. "We love playing in Worthen [Arena]. We would love to be back in Worthen. But it didn't seem as bad with the breaks."
DeMuth leads the Cardinals with 13 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Tina Bolte (10.8 ppg) is also averaging double figures.
Raechelle Hampton (9.9), Krista Stewart (9.7) and Kelsey Corbin (8.8) round out the Cards' top five scorers.
Ball State has gone 2-5 after opening the season with a school record five wins. The Cardinals' last six games have come on the road. BSU will finish its seven-game road trip at Western Michigan on Wednesday.
"We have no control over the MAC schedule," Roller said. "Unfortunately we got two straight road games to start. But we have to stay focused and know that we have home games coming up."
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