NORMAL, Ill. - The Ball State University women's basketball team fell one game short of setting a new record for most wins to start a season.
After trailing 42-21 at halftime, the Cardinals made its contest against Illinois State University close in the second half.
However, the hole Ball State dug in the first half proved to be too much to overcome.
The Cardinals fell to Illinois State University 82-72, giving Ball State its first loss of the season, and ensured that the team would not get the school's record for best start of the season.
"The no-brainer is that we didn't come ready to play in the first half," Cardinals coach Tracy Roller said. "That put us at a distinctive disadvantage against a very good Illinois State team. But I have to give our kids a bunch of credit. We had a big talk about heart and competitiveness, and championship approach at halftime. They came out and really played well in the second half, considering they were down 21 points"
After the Cardinals took a 9-4 lead in the first eight minutes, the Redbirds responded with a 16-0 run to help propel Illinois State to a 21 point first half lead.
However, Ball State responded as they opened the second half on a 16-2 run to cut Illinois State's lead to 44-37.
Junior guard Julie DeMuth, who led Ball State with 28 points and 16 rebounds said there was never any doubt that the Cardinals would respond in the second half.
"After we came out of the locker room to start the second half, I thought everyone was ready to go," DeMuth said. "We had a great run when we came out, and we kept at it the whole half, but it just wasn't enough."
Down the stretch, Illinois State missed the first foul shot of a one-and-one situation twice. However, the Redbirds got the offensive rebound both times.
"It's a drill that we do everyday in practice," DeMuth said. "Those rebounds are crucial, and we didn't execute those at that. That kind of speaks to the mental mistakes we made. There's no excuse for that and I think that was definitely a big part to the game."
Ball State got as close as three points, trailing 73-70 with 36.2 seconds left in regulation. However, Illinois State hit all six of their free throws in the final minute to close out the game.
"Our kids have put so much time in the gym shooting free throws, and that really showed tonight, Illinois State coach Robin Tingeton said. "I thought the poise that we had at the end of the game was a great thing to see."
While Roller said the loss was tough, she said the Cardinals must move on with the season.
The Cardinals will play Valparaiso University in the Hoosier Hoopla on Sunday afternoon.
"After the game, coach Roller told us that we need to learn from this loss," DeMuth said. "Right now, we have two options-¡ - we can either learn from it or not learn from it. We play Sunday, so we're going to go back, practice hard and learn from our mistakes."
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