by The Ball State Cardinals travelled to Dekalb, Illinois to face the Huskies of Northern Illinois where they took down the Huskies to stay undefeated in their play in the Mid American Conference.
Ball State came into this game with a 10-4 record behind two straight conference wins against Eastern Michigan and Akron. Last game, the team scored 102 points against Akron. That was their second game this year hitting the triple-digit mark.
NIU came into this game playing at home for the first time in 40 days. They entered this game with a 2-10 record and were on a six-game losing streak.
After winning the MAC last year, the Cardinals improve to 3-0 in conference play so far in the season. In two of those games, the Cardinals won by double digits.
Ball State coach Brady Sallee spoke about how the Cardinals can continue their success moving forward.
“Every game is going to take on a life of its own,” said Sallee. “You have to go in regardless of adversity. Things were tougher today with game stops and foul calls. I felt like we knew how to win and what to do and how to do it.”
Tessa Towers played close to home in this game. Towers came into this game averaging 13.3 points per game along with 8.8 rebounds for the Cardinals. In her last two games, she averaged over 20 points per game.
Towers finished this game with another solid performance for the Cards. She tallied 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Cardinals shot the ball very well through the first half. At halftime, Ball State led the Huskies 45-27 behind the Cardinals shooting 59% to that point. Ball State also shot 54% from three-point range against NIU to show how efficient their scoring has been.
The Cardinals ended the game shooting 51% total from the field and 37% from three-point range. Although the numbers took a hit, they still found their way to get the most important shots to fall.
Coach Sallee spoke about their shooting performance.
“They were trying their hardest to keep Tessa (Towers) from getting touches,” Sallee explained. “Grace (Kingery) had some timely threes. If you’re going to help on Tess, you’re going to leave some open threes.”
Ball State held a 19-point lead at one point in this game, and NIU wouldn’t go away. In the fourth quarter, the Huskies managed to bring the game back within 10.
Coach Sallee talked about his team’s fight to get the job done on the road.
“Teams regardless of record aren’t just going to roll over for you,” Sallee said. “That’s something we need to figure out as a young team. You need to understand your identity and play to it. You’re really playing against your standard.”
Ball State’s scoring spread to multiple players contributing to this win. Other key players included Grace Kingery who racked up 17 points on seven for 10 shooting and Bree Salenbien who scored 16 points along with four rebounds.
NIU falls to 2-11 on the year and 0-2 in conference play. They matchup with Buffalo away from home next.
Ball State improves to 11-4 on the year and 3-0 in the conference after this NIU win. The Cardinals look forward to going back home to play Toledo on Jan. 7. Ball State plays four of their next five games at Worthen Arena.
