BG was back to its winning ways on Wednesday, beating the Ball State Cardinals 73-42.

Just as it seemed like Ball State was getting better, they ran into the wall which was the Falcons’ defense.

Of the game’s first 23 points, the Falcons had 21 of them. The Cardinals never got within 15 points after that and when it seemed as if they would get close, the Falcons put the margin back up over 20.

BG played angry as a result of their last loss to Toledo this past Sunday, giving them their first loss in conference. The added motivation spiked the Falcons to outplay Ball State in most of the major categories.

“[Going into the week] we had that we just lost to Toledo mentality. None of us were happy with how the Toledo game turned out and it was important to us to use this game to show people that is not who we are,” senior Allison Papenfuss said.

The Falcons improved its scoring dramatically from the Toledo game by nearly doubling their point total. They also enhanced their shooting percentage in this game, shooting 47.3 percent for the game.

“It was important to grind in this game, we felt we lost a lot of transition baskets against Toledo and they controlled the tempo. In this game it was really important for us to control the tempo,” Papenfuss said.

Controlling the tempo seemed effortless for the Falcons as they controlled it pretty much right from the start. Ball State’s Brandy Wood made two free throws just 57 seconds in the game and yet the Falcons would take control from there.

With the game tied 2-2, BG would score the games next 19 points. Leading that surge was Redshirt junior Alexis Rogers who hit her first five field goals of the night. She was 8 of 10 on the night with 17 points, 10 of which came in the first half.

Also getting in double-digits for the Falcons was the aforementioned Allison Papenfuss. The senior forward shot 60 percent from the field while scoring 12 points on the night. This effort was one point shy of her career best of 13 points.

“My point guards are great,” Papenfuss said. “I think they love it when I am in the game because they can stand at half court and chuck the ball into me which makes it easier for them. I have a great group of girls around me.”

“Allison ran the floor extremely hard tonight and Alexis [Rogers] got a lot of easy shots inside,” Head Coach Jennifer Roos said.

“I knew Ball State would come out hard in the second half and that’s when they did a lot of their defensive adjustments. I was just really happy with the overall effort today.”

While the Falcons did not have a bad defensive game against Toledo, they were very good against the Cardinals. They [Ball State] were just 6 of 29 (20.7 percent) in the first half and closed the game out shooting 25.9 percent from the field.

Another key aspect which sought improvement from the Toledo game was rebounding and the Falcons did just that. BG outrebounded Ball State by a margin 47-30, improving from a 47-32 rebounding deficit they suffered at the hands of the Rockets.

This was a win that was important for the Falcons, not just because it was a conference game but also due to the fact that it was the last of a five game home stretch. BG was 3-2 on its longest home stand while only one of those was a conference game. The Falcons will look to take that momentum into Athens, Ohio on Sunday.

“We told the kids that our schedule is very top heavy with home games in December and January but now we are going to be on the road,” Roos said. “It was important that we take care of business at home.”