INDIANAPOLIS -- Dana Collins did everything in her power to prevent a repeat loss to the Valparaiso Crusaders on Saturday. Despite playing with a broken tailbone, the freshman point guard's 23 points and three steals led the team, but she alone could not overcome the hot shooting of Valparaiso as the Cardinals fell 88-82.
"Dana just played amazingly. She's playing with a broken tailbone, she can barely get into the stands, yet alone play," head coach Tracy Roller said. "I told her at half time that she was passing up offensive opportunities for herself, and that she needed to look to get herself more open."
But from the start of the game, Ball State's defense was its Achilles heel as Valpo (3-4) continually found open looks at the basket on its way to hitting 50 percent of its shots and hitting 11 three-point baskets.
"The only reason we lost this game was because of defense," Roller said. "We couldn't guard them. Everything they ran, every option they took would break us down and they got an open shot."
Even as the Cardinals (4-3) overcame a two-point half time deficit, taking a six-point lead with eight minutes to play, Valpo's Suzie Hammel buried any hopes Ball State had as her seven second-half 3-pointers put the game out of reach.
Hammel ended the game with eight 3-pointers as Ball State's defense always seemed to be a half-step late in getting to the ball when she took her shots. Collins said the team just "couldn't get a hand in her face" when they needed to and played with little enthusiasm.
"We just didn't have the desire today," Collins said. "Defense is all about desire whether you are tired or not."
Even though Roller said the offense was a highlight for the team, Valpo's fundamentally sound defense repeatedly made the high-powered Ball State offense look out of sync. The usually perimeter-oriented offense of Ball State consistently forced the ball into the lane where the bigger Valpo forwards were able to control the game, forcing the tempo into a half-court style of play.
"They really executed their defense on what we were doing," Collins said. "They really focused on our offense. We just weren't making smart passes or doing smart things."
Nonetheless, the road-weary Cardinals -- on their fifth road trip in a row -- have two weeks off before their next match at Wright State. And according to Roller, it couldn't come at a better time.
"We're all exhausted," Roller said. "It's time to worry about finals and getting through them, and then we'll go back at it and get ready again."
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