Ball State recovered Wednesday night from a close loss last week against Purdue with a 76-70 win over Evansville at home. Head coach Brady Sallee said he saw improvement from the team's first game.
“I felt like for the first time this season that I could call out a play and it would work right away,” he said. “It was a great feeling.”
Ball State ran their offense efficiently throughout the game, racking up 16 assists on 25 field goals.
The offense struggled at times, however, resulting in 18 turnovers in the game compared to just 10 for Evansville.
Throughout the first half, Ball State settled for jump shots. The team shot only 44.1 percent from the floor in the half with seven three-pointers made.
Sophomore Jill Morrison was the key to Ball State’s first-half offense, hitting five of nine from three-point range. Morrison would go on to finish the night with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“It was a team effort with just a lot of extra passes that resulted with me having the shot,” Morrison said.
Going into the second half, the Cardinals changed their approach on the offensive end of the floor by converting jump shots into drives to the hoop. Ball State increased its field goal percentage to 54.5 percent in the second half and 49 percent for the game.
Nathalie Fontaine ended the night as Ball State's leading scorer with 19 points, most of those coming from penetration to the basket, resulting in free throws. She was 6-10 from the free-throw line in the game.
Senior Shelbie Justice and sophomore Renee Bennett each finished the game with 12 points, capping off four players in double-figures.
“We really did well executing during the second half and passing it to the open player,” Fontaine said. “It was something we worked a lot on in practice, so it was nice to see that work out.”
Ball State moves to 1-1 on the season and will hit the road for the first time as it travels to take on Louisville at 2 p.m. Nov. 23. Last season, Ball State lost to Louisville 105-67.
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