by Ball State women’s basketball shot 12 3-pointers Sunday afternoon in its road contest against Davidson. The Wildcats made a program-high 17 3-pointers in the game.
In light of that, Davidson defeated Ball State 87-65, starting the Cardinals’ three-game road trip with a 22-point loss.
“We got taken to the woodshed,” Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said.
One game after scoring 119 points on Oakland City — a total tied for the second most in program history — the Cardinals struggled to find momentum with the basketball, while their opponent did not.
Ball State started the game with a 2-0 lead after redshirt senior forward Bree Salenbien hit the first shot of the day. However, that was the only time Ball State led as Davidson turned up the heat.
At the 5:00 mark of the first quarter, the Wildcats jumped to a 10-6 lead. After that, their 3-point success began to take its place.
By halftime, the Wildcats hit seven 3-pointers and were 7-for-14 (50 percent) from that range. Overall, they were 14-for-36 (38.8 percent) from the floor. But once the second half started, the Wildcats remained lethal from the perimeter.
Davidson ended the win 17-for-28 from deep (60.7 percent) while Ball State was just 5-for-12 (41.7 percent).
“I had to focus on why they were that open, not the fact that they were just making them all,” Sallee said. “We were not executing the way we needed to, and that led to it … We were a step behind. We were reacting to what they were doing, and I thought we were very single-minded tonight. When you’re defending against good teams, you have to get multiple efforts.”
Junior guard Katie Donovan led the way for Davidson, going 7-for-8 from 3-point range while scoring a game-high — and career-high — 28 points. Sophomore guard Kyra Bruyndoncx followed with six 3-pointers and 25 points, which was a career-high as well.
For Ball State, Salenbien led with 21 points and nine rebounds. While the Cardinals did win the paint points battle 38-26, the Wildcats’ shooting numbers proved to be too much. Defensively, the Cardinals grabbed two more rebounds, 24-22 — Ball State lost the rebound fight 33-32 — and tied the Wildcats with seven steals.
However, despite those statistics, the outcome did not turn out as Ball State had hoped. Sallee said he saw multiple things that needed correcting. From ball screens to adjusting things to keep up with their offense, he said he wished he had more time to break down what went wrong.
“Oh my gosh, it’s endless. I wish we had more time to spend in the film room. Unfortunately, we play on Wednesday, so it’s going to be a quick turnaround,” he said. “But if I had two hours in the film room after this one, it would be a clinic of what not to do, what you have to do and all those kinds of things.”
Sallee said this loss could mean multiple things for Ball State. But he said one of the main things the Cardinals need to focus on is growth. They will move on and face Louisville on the road Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 9 p.m.
“Whether we win or not, we’ve got to keep continuing to grow as a basketball team. We’ve got to understand the urgency to do that,” Sallee said. “Our maturity level will be tested after this, because this was a tough one to swallow. We’re not used to getting run out like we did today. We’re going to have to handle this like champs, and we’ve got a team that will have our attention coming on Wednesday.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
