Dec. 5, 2006
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NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State's women's basketball team will look to capture its third consecutive non-conference victory when it hosts undefeated Ball State at Redbird Arena Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game officially kicks off the WJBC "Brotherhood Tree" promotion. Any fan that brings a wrapped present to the game will receive a coupon for free admission to a selected women's basketball game this season.
Illinois State hasn't played since last Tuesday, when they posted a record-setting 101-72 win over Eastern Illinois at Redbird Arena. Last Saturday's scheduled game at Wisconsin-Green Bay was postponed indefinitely due to inclement weather and travel conditions.
ISU head coach Robin Pingeton welcomes the opportunity to start a home stand over the next 12 days, and has been impressed with her team's early-week practice habits entering Wednesday's game.
"We are excited to get a couple more home games under our belt," said Pingeton. "The Wisconsin-Green Bay game was an unfortunate circumstance. It's the first time in my 17 years of coaching that I've ever been a part of a cancellation or postponement. But despite not playing the game, I don't anticipate that the week-long layover will affect us when we play Wednesday. Our conditioning in practice the past couple of days has been great, even after we went light on Friday (anticipating we would play Saturday), and gave the girls the day off Saturday. We really got after it pretty hard on Sunday and Monday, and we'll be ready to play."
The Cardinals are 5-0 this season, boasting wins over Michigan (Nov. 13), Wright State (Nov. 18), Howard (Nov. 25), IPFW (Nov. 26) and Butler (Dec. 2). They are averaging nearly 80 points-per-game (79.8), and have held their opponents to 60 points-per-contest. Ball State is also out-rebounding their counterparts by more than five caroms per game.
Last season against the `Birds (Nov. 30, 2005), Ball State built a 15-point lead in the first-half before fighting off a second-half ISU surge to post a 65-61 win at Worthen Arena. Both teams entered the game with identical 4-0 records.
Pingeton is impressed with Ball State's quick start to the season, and anticipates a challenging match-up against a team that plays with a similar style to the Redbirds.
"The fact that we have played them (BSU) the past couple of years helps a lot when preparing for a team, especially in non-conference play," Pingeton said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Tracy (Roller) has done there. It is just a very solid program. We really struggled at their place last year, but we also had our opportunities to come back after being down by double-digits in the first half. They are 5-0 this season, and have some nice wins. They are an athletic group with quick perimeter players, and their guards can really shoot it. They are going to look to push in transition, so from that standpoint, our styles are very similar. We have a height advantage that we hope to take advantage of. But Ball State has a lot of upperclassmen, and we anticipate that they will come into Redbird Arena with a lot of confidence."
Pingeton and UW-Green Bay head coach Kevin Borseth are still planning on making up Saturday's game this season on a date that works for both programs. Details on a future make-up date will be released when a mutually agreed upon date is scheduled.
