by MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State women’s basketball handed Cincinnati a 20-point loss Thursday evening in Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals won the game 83-63, which continued their undefeated start to the 2025-26 season. Senior Bree Salenbien scored a season and career-high 26 points and finished with a double-double as she grabbed 10 rebounds.
But arguably the most important thing Ball State head coach Brady Sallee talked about wasn’t any of those items. It was about how the win came on the Cardinals’ First Responders Night.
“I try to do that every day because there’s no group of people who I respect more,” Sallee said.
On Wednesday, November 12, it was announced in a statement from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department that Corporal Blake Reynolds — a Delta High School and Ball State University graduate — lost his life due to a vehicle accident while assisting a broken-down semi on Interstate 69.
“We play a game, right? We coach a game,” Sallee said. “It’s hard to call what I do a job. Those guys and gals, they live a different life, and they do it out of service. One of my best friends is in the Muncie Police Department. So when things happen to someone like Blake, who is a Delta guy … I’m a dad and I got kids. It just breaks your heart, because you know what those guys and gals do for us.
“The amount of respect that I have for all of those [individuals]. My associate head coach, her husband, is a firefighter. So it is important to us just to be able to say ‘Thank you,’ and to show some respect.”
When he did talk about Ball State’s (5-0) fifth win of the season, all he could highlight was the effort the Cardinals showed.
“This was very little coaching, and it was a whole lot of players just pouring their heart out and getting the job done,” Sallee said.
Sallenbien’s performance was followed by senior center Tessa Towers, who recorded a double-double of her own with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Altogether, the five Cardinals scored in double-digits as they continued their undefeated run and did it against a power four opponent. Though Sallee was happy with his team, he took the time in his opening statement to credit the Bearcats (1-4)
“Lots of respect for coach [Katrina] Merriweather, and the job she’s doing,” Sallee said. “The fact that she understands how to get a team ready for what she’s getting ready to see in the Big 12, and she’ll come play here. All the respect in the world to her. I got a list of [power four] coaches that wouldn’t step near here. If we had time, I’d name them all.”
Though this game was only the fifth contest on this roster — which features many new faces — the Cardinals at times looked like they had played together for much longer. In the win, Ball State recorded 51 rebounds and 24 assists.
Sallee said he’s never not happy to see that type of outing.
“I get sick of a lot of things, but us playing well is not one of them,” he said. “When they do things well, and this is bad. But when they do things well and do things right, I don’t react a whole lot because I expect them to do that. That’s what they’re here … I know how good they are and what they are capable of.”
Salenbien said the reason Ball State fans are seeing this early success is because of their attitude. She now has three double-doubles on the year and leads the team with an average of 13 points per game.
“We’re eager to win and to do well,” she said. “In practice, we are being pushed to do our best. It’s not even the mistakes we want to eliminate. We just want to play hard, and we really did that tonight.”
Ball State will return to Worthen Arena Monday, Nov. 24, when the University of Illinois Chicago comes to Muncie at 6:30 p.m.
Though Sallee credited the Cardinals throughout the postgame press conference, he thinks there is still work to be done.
“We are playing well, but we have a lot more in us,” he said. “There’s a lot we can do better. We have a group of young ladies who want to be a part of this first, and then what happens for them is second. I said in the last presser that they are figuring out how to practice … I think right now, that’s what I’m coaching, and it’s a lot of fun to coach. ”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
