With five of the top 10 scorers in the Mid-American Conference playing on the same court, the women's basketball team and Western Michigan were bound to the fate of a high-scoring game Saturday. As the game started with each team scoring more than 10 points in the first four minutes, the shootout was on and no one looked back as Ball State rolled to an 87-76 victory.
With the win, BSU (17-7, 11-3 MAC) remained in a tie with Toledo for first place in the MAC West Division. The Broncos fell to 14-10 and 8-5.
Junior Jessica Reiter got the game kick-started for the Cardinals as she led the team with 22 points and led five Cardinals into double-figure scoring. Reiter continually found open shots from the free throw line as Western's zone defense struggled to guard the multi-faceted offense Ball State used.
"I was just working on seeing the open spots and cutting to them," Reiter said. "Everyone did a great job passing the ball and finding the open person. I can't take all the credit for getting open."
Usually the ball came from junior Johna Goff, who led the team with eight assists. Goff was the main instrument in breaking down Western's defense, repeatedly pushing the tempo and making the Broncos look as if they were moving in slow motion. As a team, the Cardinals had 25 assists.
"I'm at my best when I'm pushing the ball and trying to make things happen," Goff said. "My assists have been way up the last couple of games and it shows. I was just pushing the ball up and getting the ball to who was open."
But Western's bigger, more physical post players gave Ball State's post players problems as they continually got rebounds for second chance points, keeping the Broncos in the game.
"They were very physical inside and it was hard to get the ball," Reiter said. "But a lot of it came down to us just being lazy. So many times we just turned to look for the ball and we didn't go block anybody out."
Nonetheless, the offensive production continued as Ball State's 12 3-pointers buried any hopes that Western had of winning. But the real answer to Roller's prayers came with her bench outscoring Western's 23-4 and holding their bench to zero points in the second half as the Bronco's starters began to feel the wear and tear of the fast-paced game.
"Western really started to look tired there at the end," Roller said. "If we get Bowie to play 30 minutes a game, we're lucky. When you have your key players playing 40 minutes with no break, it only has to hurt you."
As the game wore on and Western's defense could do little to stop the Ball State shooting onslaught. The Cardinals continued to pick apart the zone defense of Western.
Julie Just (16 points), Tamara Bowie (14) and Goff (11) backed Reiter in the scoring department. Bowie grabbed seven rebounds and Reiter six.
"Our team executed the offense so well," Roller said. "And you have to be that type of team when it comes time for March. If we don't, we're going to have the same problems we've had all year."
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