Hours prior to Thursday night's Mid-American Conference opener between Ball State and visiting Eastern Michigan, coach Kelly Packard opted to use social media as a means of relaying a message to her team.
"I want this team to have success so badly. I celebrate and ache with them. They get everything I have!" Packard tweeted.
The coach's message was well received.
The Cardinals (6-8, 1-0) battled through adversity to come away with a 54-51 upset over the Eagles (8-6, 0-1).
The Cardinals were down 5-0 before sophomore forward Jazmin Hitchens sank a 3-point field goal to draw within two points. The Eagles continued to press offensively, building a seven-point advantage before the Cardinals pieced together a 7-0 run, forcing the Eagles to burn a timeout.
Miller tallied seven of her 13 total points in the first half, narrowing the halftime deficit to seven.
"We did some good things in the first half," Packard said.
But the Cardinals faltered in the opening 20 minutes as well. A bundle of fouls led to a total of 17 trips to the free throw line for the Eagles, who converted 15 times.
The statistic didn't sit well with Packard, who saw her team shoot just 23-percent from the field in the first half.
"The big number shocker at the half was how many times we put them at the free throw line," Packard said. "That just can't happen. We talked about our defense and made sure we were in a contest mode instead of a swatting mode."
Another threat to Ball State was Eastern Michigan's senior guard Tavelyn James, who is seventh in the nation in points per game, with 22.5, according to ESPN.com. James chipped in with a team-leading 20 points in the losing effort. The performance was James' sixth 20-plue point game of the season.
"She's a great player," Packard said. "She's a phenomenal scorer. I was pleased with the job we did with her. She can really get going from the 3-point line and we only let her get one off and shit didn't make that shot."
In-game strategy became taxing for Packard, especially under the basket on both sides of the court.
Packard used an assortment of combinations in order to contain the Eagles, but none seemed to work, until she called on true freshman forward Neschelle Williams, who had played in just six games this season.
The rookie responded with seven points and a team-leading 11 rebounds, including 10 defensive boards.
"More than anything else, Neschelle Williams stepped forward in such a significant way for us tonight in the paint and makes a key shot in some of the final possessions offensively," Packard said.
Packard has stressed the importance of rebounding throughout the holiday break, stating that rebounding is the most important category for her team both offensively and defensively.
Packard said sophomore forward Katie Murphy has had some good games, but is too inconsistent. The Cardinals' coach has also leaned on senior captains Amber Crago and Suzanne Grossnickle to get the job done, but the results haven't met Packard's standards.
Williams appears to be the quick fix at the inside post position for the Cardinals, and her career-game against the Eagles gives Packard more confidence in Williams.
"Watching Neschelle as she moves through her freshman year as she starts to get more confident and watching her in practice just gave me the confidence to see if she could step up," Packard said. "[She] was such a difference maker when she came in the game."
Williams, along with Miller and Hichens guided the Cardinals to a 32-point second half, securing their sixth victory of the season and first in the MAC.
"You sit on [the Green Bay loss] and you come home and play Marshall, a team we were up nine [points] on and we didn't hold on to win," Packard said. "Just really proud and I talked about the stakes being higher in the MAC. Every single game positions us in the standings, and we've got to grow up. I'm really pleased how we held a very, very good rebounding team in check."
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