by MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State women’s basketball only saw four Cardinals score in the first half of Saturday’s home game against Bowling Green.
That number did not drastically change as just six Cardinals found the bottom of the net throughout the entire four quarters. Ball State also turned the ball over 20 times.
But despite that, there was one key the Cardinals relied on: Bree Salenbien.
“If you could’ve heard her in the huddle with her voice, she was really talking to the kids, trying to get to the finish line,” Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said. “She understood the importance of how we had to play.”
But while she led off the court, she was also doing so on the hardwood. Thanks to a career-high 32 points from the senior forward, the Cardinals’ limited scoring performances did not matter as they rolled to an 82-67 victory over the visiting Falcons.
When Salenbien checked out for the final time with 11 seconds left in the game, the crowd inside Worthen Arena gave her a standing ovation.
“Some of my shots were going in, and we talked about getting a jump,” she said. “I’ve really worked on my 40-foot [3-point shots].”
Sallee jumped in and joked about his time teaching her about shooting the long ball.
“She hit a couple of those, and I think she’s got some more ahead,” he said, laughing.
The Cardinals’ 12th Mid-American Conference (MAC) victory of the year seemed in limbo as the Falcons jumped out to a 17-11 lead. However, this is when Salenbien’s career day kicked off. She finished the opening period with eight points and went on to score 16 in the first half.
But the Cardinals (21-5, 12-1 MAC) did not put distance between them and the Falcons (13-12, 5-8 MAC) until the final minutes of the half. First, Salenbien drained a 3-pointer, and that was followed by junior guard Grace Kingery with a triple of her own.
After senior center Tessa Towers hit a layup to end the first half, Ball State led 36-28.
“There’s so much more to production than just what you see on our stat sheet, right?” Sallee said. “Our focus is there. Just knowing that if [Salenbien] gets an open shot, she’s going to take it. If [Kingery] gets it, she’s going to take it … We got good players.”
Throughout the second half, Bowling Green had their moments. But even when the Falcons seemed to have momentum, the Cardinals routinely bounced back to stop any progress. The visiting team finished the game shooting 34.8 percent (24-for-69) from the field.
Kingery continued her promising run from 3-point range throughout the evening. She ended the game with 17 points after going 5-for-9 from deep. Add in that junior guard Karsyn Norman also drained some triples — she finished the game with 15 points and three 3-pointers — Bowling Green could not follow the effort.
In the paint, the Cardinals also topped the Falcons 40-30. Altogether, Ball State shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60). To Sallee, this is just another key point that demonstrates his team’s ability to win in any situation.
“As we developed who we were, we understood the ball’s got to go [in the paint] first, and when we play through there, we get some really good looks out as well,” he said. “Our kids have understood who we are and who we have to be to win the game.”
The Cardinals will look for their 13th conference victory when they head to Buffalo Wednesday, Feb. 18. The game will start at 7 p.m.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
