Ball State's overall record of 8-11 and record of 3-3 in the Mid-American Conference is starting to become deceiving.
For the second consecutive game on their home floor, the Cardinals knocked off a first place team in the MAC. A week ago they took down MAC West leader Central Michigan 86-77. Saturday, the Cardinals defeated MAC East leader Kent State in overtime 69-65.
Teams in a similar situation as Ball State would have self-destructed by this point in the season. But for the last two weeks, the Cardinals have found ways to win, especially on their home floor.
"You don't go into a game like this [against] an experienced veteran team without unity and do something special," coach Kelly Packard said. "I'm really proud. You don't see some of the things that go on and some of the things we work through to be sure that we don't fracture and that we're united when we take the floor."
After seeing her team's effort in its past two victories, Packard feels her group can match up against any team out there.
"We can beat anybody," Packard said. "As we do that we're collecting so much confidence."
As a team, the Cardinals pulled down 51 total rebounds, 19 of which came on offense.
"I had asked them to put a double-digit in that column," Packard said. "I was thinking like 10 or 11. We end up with 19 offensive rebounds. Our transition game is our life."
Freshman forward Jazmin Hitchens proved yet again how gifted she truly is. Hitchens led the Cardinals in rebounds with 12, and was a perfect seven-for-seven from the charity stripe. Her 13 total points helped lead the Cardinals to victory.
"[These games] give me a lot of confidence," Hitchens said. "At the beginning of the season I was struggling. I didn't know what position I would play, or how my high school game would factor into my college game. Now that I'm starting to be more stable and help my team win, my confidence level is really going up."
Excitement filled the locker room for Ball State prior to the game. Senior guard Ty'Ronda Benning tallied 18 points and knocked down three of her seven 3-point field goal attempts. Benning wasn't about to settle for a loss to Kent State, no matter how good they were.
"We were all pumped and ready to go," Benning said. "We knock off (3-0) [Central Michigan] why not knock off (5-0) [Kent State]. It'd be fun."
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