After another game of struggling offense Tuesday night, Ball State University women's basketball coach Tracy Roller transferred all of her frustration from her team to her clipboard as she slammed it onto the court.
The 71-54 loss to Illinois State University marks the Cardinals third straight loss, the first time Ball State has lost three games in a row since 2004.
Illinois State, which is 7-1, has out scored its opponents by 14 points a game this season, a trend that continued against Ball State. The Cardinals have averaged 52 points per game since competing against Temple University six days ago.
Still focusing on getting better, Roller said Ball State didn't improve the last two games.
"I don't think we got worse, but we are just staying the same when we just need to get better," Roller said. "When you ask me what to work on, right now I have 20 things in my mind."
Ball State shot 7-26 from the floor in the first half. Despite starting the half with an early five point lead, 9-4, the Ball State lead was neutralized by a 20-4 Redbird run led by 6-foot-6-inch center Nicolle Lewis.
Lewis proved to be a problem for the Cardinal defense, whose tallest player is 6-foot-1-inch forward Lisa Rusche, when she finished the game with 14 points and 9 rebounds.
Coming out of the locker room Ball State started to mount a comeback behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Shannon Klei and Kiley Jarrett, but it was not enough as the Cardinals would not pull within a single digit deficit the rest of the game.
Struggling for an answer, Julie DeMuth said the team is still optimistic, but lacks a key factor.
"We have to focus," DeMuth said. "Obviously once we get in the guy we have a quick turn around. We have to have a good practice and focus on our shooting and being ready to shoot. It'll get better."
As the Cardinals sink further into the season, Roller said she doesn't know what needs to be fixed with her team.
"It just seems like when we get one hole covered to stop the water coming in, another hole sprouts up," Roller said. "It's early and we know we have to keep getting better, but it's just frustrating when we are doing the same mistakes over and over again and not playing as a team. Effort, teamwork and communication are things you shouldn't have to coach and right now we are having to do that a lot."
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