by The Ball State Cardinals went to Mount Pleasant, Michigan to face the Chippewas from Central Michigan. The Cards took care of business on the road at CMU to stay seated in second place in the Mid American Conference standings.
Ball State entered this game off their first loss in league play this year against Miami (OH) after a seven-game winning streak. The Cards stood 15-5 overall and 7-1 in MAC games.
Central came into this game on a winning their last three games against Eastern Michigan, Akron and Western Michigan.
The Cards started this game with some offensive struggles as they trailed 21-20 with six minute remaining in the half. Ball State avoided scoring their lowest halftime total of the year which game against Louisville with 23 points midway through that game.
The halftime score was 31-29 with Ball State leading. In the first half, Ball State shot 34% from the field and 18% from beyond the arch which was out of character for this Ball State team with good shooters.
Ball State coach Brady Sallee talked about his team’s offensive struggles early on.
“Our shot selection was exactly where we wanted it to me,” said Sallee. “It’s basketball. It seemed like the ball had helium in it every time it hit the rim. Then in the second half, we calmed down a bit and finished a bunch of those shots.”
The third quarter showed that Ball State can still shoot from outside. Going into the final 30 second of the quarter, Ball State made three of their last four shots from outside.
Karsyn Norman and Grace Kingery showed of their range combining for five made shots from deep. Norman made three and Kingery made two of them.
Going into the final quarter, Kingery, Norman, and Towers shared the lead in points for their team with 12 points each. The Cardinals led the Chippewas going into the fourth quarter 61-55 after the Cardinals had a 30-point third quarter.
Coach Sallee talked about the third-quarter scoring surge.
“This team has been pretty good at halftime,” said Sallee. “I know it’s not my speeches; I try to keep it ‘to the point.’ They’ve been really good with the slight adjustments we’ve been making, and I think that leads to coming out and getting some good looks.”
The Cardinals experienced foul trouble in their front court. With four minutes left in the third quarter, Tessa Towers fouled three times and Alba Caballero fouled four times.
Caballero and Towers both fouled out in the fourth quarter leaving the Cardinals without either of their centers for the remaining six minutes of the game. The Cards led the ballgame 66-61 when Towers fouled out of the game.
With Ball State’s bigs fouled out of the game, that led to Bree Salenbien and Zhen Verburgt to hold down the paint. Bree Salenbien also held four fouls when Towers and Caballero fouled out.
Central Michigan also found themselves in foul trouble. Five different Chippewa players fouled four times by the final two minutes of the game. Four of those five players for Central Michigan fouled out by the end of the game.
With 1:10 left in the game, Bree Salenbien fouled out for the Cardinals. With 5.7 seconds left, Ball State grabbed a rebound before Coach Sallee called a timeout to stop the ball and seal the game.
The Cardinals held on to beat Central 76-70 in a MAC thriller. Ball State moves to 8-1 in league play and 16-5 for the year. Their next meeting is at Kent State on Feb.1.
Coach Sallee talked about pulling out the win with all the foul trouble in such a tight game.
“I think our kids believe in our depth,” explained Sallee. “It’s a belief that I think the kids have in themselves and in each other. We trust our depth. This group has seemed to answer the bell really well. That’s a great characteristic to have as a team.”
