BLOOMINGTON - Kelly Packard brought her Ball State University women's basketball team into Friday's season-opener at Indiana University looking to begin her first year with an emotional high.
Instead, she was reminded of how much patience she will need with her new team.
Ball State trailed Indiana throughout the game before losing 84-68 in the first round of the Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament. The Cardinals haven't beaten the Hoosiers in their last 19 games, dating back to the 1977-78 season.
After her first regular season game with Ball State, Packard warned the program would need an adjustment period in the first couple games this season.
"Everything is new at Ball State," Packard said, "New systems offensively, new systems defensively. I think we're still working through some of that. ... Overall, it was November basketball. It looked like we were rusty in some areas, and we were."
Ball State allowed the first 10 points and trailed 24-6 with 11:46 left in the first half. The Cardinals closed the opening period with a 9-2 run, cutting the Hoosiers' lead to 44-33. But they couldn't pull within six in the second half and trailed by double digits for most of the final 10 minutes.
Senior point guard Kiley Jarrett, a Bloomington native, said it was frustrating trying to dig out of the hole her team fell into during the first couple minutes.
"You want to go out there and compete every game, and at the beginning of the game we just didn't do that," Jarrett said. "We got ourselves in too big of a hole, and we couldn't get back from it. We made a run, but that hole we got ourselves into at the beginning of the game really cost us."
Indiana used a full-court press to throw Ball State's offense out of rhythm. The result, Packard said, was rushed shots and a lack of aggressiveness. Ball State shot 38.2 percent from the field and made four-of-20 3-pointers. The Hoosiers made four-of-13 from behind the three-point arc, but they finished 52.5 percent from the floor.
Packard said her team's poor shooting percentage was due to its lack of aggressiveness.
"We were standing, we weren't moving," Packard said. "It all kind of went together as one big package."
Ball State had four players score in double figures. Guard Audrey McDonald led Ball State with 13 points, including both of the Cardinals' 3-pointers. Jarrett scored 11 and added four assists in her homecoming.
Senior guard Porchia Green, Ball State's leading scorer last year, missed her first five shots and was held scoreless for the first 17 minutes of the game. She finished with 11 points and team highs with six rebounds and five assists.
Senior forward Amber Jackson led Indiana with 17 points and eight rebounds. Her front court teammate, senior Whitney Thomas, added 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Cardinals, which are guaranteed at least three games in the Preseason WNIT, host Robert Morris University in a consolation game 8 p.m. Saturday at Worthen Arena.
HistoryBall State has lost to Indiana in the past 19 meetings. Below are the results from the past five years. 2008: IU def. BSU 84-682007: IU def. BSU 76-712006: IU def. BSU 67-562003: IU def. BSU 71-622002: IU def. BSU 103-95 (OT2)
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