A winning streak has been like trying to find a diamond in the rough for Ball State over the last couple of seasons. Its last successful spurt came in the 2008 season when then first-year coach Kelly Packard headed Ball State to 12 straight victories, including an upset over the No. 5 seeded Tennessee Volunteers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Three years later, the young Cardinals (3-3) have crafted a successful run of their own. Thanks to a 55-50 win at Evansville on Tuesday night, Ball State is riding a three-game winning streak heading into tonight's game against Detroit Mercy of the Horizon League.
"I said before [that] if we won a game, we could put several in a row together and we go from being 0-3 to 3-3," Packard said.
Tonight's contest marks the second game in three nights for the Cardinals, and Packard said it's a much easier turnaround after grinding out a hard-fought win on the road.
"It's just a lot easier of a flow when you have one day to prepare [after] you win," she said. "It's a whole different mindset now. Yes, we've only got one day to prepare, but winning on the road and returning home, it's a great combination."
The Titans present another tough matchup for the Cardinals. The duo of freshman forward Shareta Brown and junior guard Chanahl Putnam are the center of the Titans offense.
Brown is averaging more than 17 points and 10 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.6 percent from the field. Though Putnam's numbers aren't as high as Brown's, she is averaging more than 11 points per game and converts nearly 38-percent of her 3-point field goals to lead the team.
Packard said she is very familiar with the Titans' personnel from last season and is anticipating a strenuous game against the team who defeated the Cardinals by 18 points on Nov. 16, 2010.
"I know they've had some really tight games," Packard said. "This is not a team that's going to be easy for us whatsoever. We'll cover what we need to."
Though the Cardinals were victorious against the Purple Aces two nights ago, Packard said there are a number of things she would like to see her team improve on for tonight's game.
"The first half, we were not assertive at all on the offensive end from a standpoint of being in a power position, managing the pressure that they were throwing at us," Packard said. "I felt like we were tentative and passive. We talked quite a bit at halftime and it was certainly much, much better in the second half."
The Cardinals will try to stretch their season-high three-game winning streak to four against the Titans in a 7 p.m. tip-off inside Worthen Arena.
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