It's normal for games to increase in importance the deeper a team journeys into March. However, few games in the history of Ball State University women's basketball have carried the weight of Friday's Mid-American Conference tournament semifinal game.
Ball State advanced to the semifinal game of the MAC tournament after a 56-53 win against Western Michigan University Tuesday. The Cardinals have a noon tip off with Northern Illinois University today at Quicken Loans Arena. Northern Illinois advanced to the semifinal game by defeating Kent State University 72-68 Tuesday.
"We are so happy to be here after a tough game against Western [Michigan], and I'm sure Northern [Illinois] feels the same way," Ball State coach Tracy Roller said.
There may not be a team more on the March bubble in the country than the Cardinals. The team is ranked No. 45 in the RPI. Ball State is one of the last four teams in cbssportsline.com's NCAA Tournament Bracketology by Jerry Palm. Espn.com's Charlie Cr+â-¿me has the Cardinals projected to be one of the last five teams out of the tournament.
Though heavy expectations and uncertainty weigh heavily on the Cardinals, Roller said her team is continuing to take a game-by-game approach.
"We're just so focused right now," Roller said. "We look at the next game instead of the big picture. We don't get lost in the bigness of this game, because at this point in the season they're all big."
With all the post-season ramifications swirling around Ball State, the fact that the two teams are a win away from the MAC Championship game can easily get lost in the shuffle.
However, Ball State senior point guard Kelsey Corbin said the biggest thing on the plate for her team is getting to the championship game.
"I think [getting to the championship] holds a lot more significance to us, especially the three seniors," Corbin said. "Just getting to that point for our program in general, it's a stepping stone and a benchmark that we need to accomplish now. We have the talent, we have great kids and we have a great coaching staff."
If the Cardinals are to advance to the championship game, they will have to accomplish one of the most difficult tasks in college basketball. Ball State has already beaten the Huskies twice this year - an 81-72 home win Jan. 17 and an 81-70 road victory Feb. 28.
A win today would give the Cardinals a rare third win against one team in a single season. Roller said beating a team for the third time in a season becomes easier if a team chooses not to think about it in those terms.
"We don't think about how many times we've played them," Roller said. "We only played them a week ago, but we know they've gotten better in that time and so have we. We've played two very different types of games. So we need to be ready for everything, because it's going to take everything in the kitchen sink to beat them."
As much as the pressure has mounted for Ball State, Corbin said she and the team don't feel it. Instead, the senior captain said the Cardinals' great regular season has gotten the Ball State players used to pressure situations.
"I don't think that we feel the pressure right now more than we've already felt it this year," Corbin said. "We've had to play with a lot of pressure already with the winning streaks we've had and going 5-0 in the [MAC] West. I think Bowling Green [State University] has the pressure because they're expected to win, and Eastern Michigan [University] was the pre-season pick in the West. Those teams have the pressure. We're used to it."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
