by MUNCIE, Ind.- The Ball State Cardinals open play in the Mid American Conference with a meeting at home with the Eastern Michigan Eagles.
Ball State entered this game with an 8-4 record on a three-game skid. Their last three losses were to Davidson, Louisville, and South Dakota State.
Eastern Michigan came into this game with a 6-4 record after winning four of their last five games: the lone loss being to Indiana in their last game.
In the first half, these two teams went back and forth in a physical game. Many travels and turnovers were called causing a lot of stoppage time. Ball State committed six fouls just halfway into the second quarter. In the end, Ball State committed 23 total fouls against the Eagles.
Ball State coach Brady Sallee spoke about the physical play and both teams’ energies from the first half as well as some of the officiating.
“I think two of the three teams playing today played really good,” said Sallee.
Meanwhile, Ball State kept their composure throughout the adversity of the first half stoppages. The players that came off the bench kept the game tight regardless of all the foul trouble.
Zhen Verburgt scored six points and two rebounds in the first half, and got a lot of playing time as reinforcement for the front court.
Coach Sallee talked about his players’ grit to stay in the game.
“We could have gotten out of sorts with all the foul trouble,” said Sallee. ” We knew we had to do whatever it takes. Who know it would have taken playing a half in a zone?”
Early on, Tessa Towers was in some foul trouble before the halftime break by tallying three personal fouls with six points. Her second half picked up the scoring load for the Cardinals. Towers ended the game with 20 points and four rebounds. She also shot perfect from the free throw line making six of her six attempts from the charity stripe.
“I knew we were short on bigs, and playing from the inside out is very important in these games,” said Towers.”I just went out and did whatever it took to win. That was my mindset.”
Some of the key players were Grace Kingery and Tessa Towers who led the Cardinals in scoring. Kingery tallied 21 while Towers scored 20. Off the bench, Zhen Verburgt scored nine points with three rebounds, and Zuri Ransom scored six points and added three rebounds as well.
Ball State grows to 9-4 after their matchup with Eastern Michigan who slides to 6-5. Eastern Michigan’s next matchup is at home against Bowling Green. Ball State’s next meeting is with the Akron Zips at Akron on Dec. 31.
