by MUNCIE, Ind.- The Ball State Cardinals hosted the Toledo Rockets in a midseason Mid American Conference matchup at Worthen Arena on Jan. 7. Ball State came out on top 72-68 in a game that went down to the wire in the final minute.
The Cardinals came into this game off three straight wins from Eastern Michigan, Akron, and Northern Illinois. Ball State was 3-0 in league play thus far into the season with an overall record of 11-4.
Toledo entered this matchup winning three of their last four games with the loss being to Miami (OH). The Rockets hold a 6-6 overall record and a 1-1 conference record.
Ball State has many new players on his roster. Plenty of transfers like Karsyn Norman and Bree Salenbien didn’t know how much the Ball State and Toledo matchup was.
Ball State and Toledo have gone back and forth beating one another over their last six regular season matchups spreading from the 2022-2023 season to present day.
This matchup got physical late in the game with a lot of defensive pressure and stoppages from foul calls. This physicality between teams showed just how important of a game this is on the calendar.
Coach Sallee talked about the weight of this matchup between the two programs.
“I have the utmost respect for their program,” said Sallee. “I’m going to guess that they don’t care for us, and I can probably tell you we don’t particularly care for them as well. But we respect them.”
Heading into this game, Ball State averaged 46.5 rebounds per game as a team. Tessa Towers led the team with 8.8 per game on her own with Bree Salenbien recording eight over her own rebounds.
The Cardinals out-rebounded a large majority of the teams they have faced so far, and it is a large part of who they are as a team. Out of character for the Cardinals, the Rockets beat Ball State in the rebounding battle 36-35.
Ball State also prides themselves in their defensive efforts. They hold the fourth best defensive average in points against in the Mid American.
Ball State coach Brady Sallee spoke about the identity of his team.
“I don’t think this is who we are rebounding the ball,” Sallee explained. “We can make some strides in the turnover department, I think we could be pretty good.”
The Cardinals shared the ball at a very high rate against the Rockets. Ball State finished the game with 20 assists as a team out of their 29 total field goals. Bree Salenbien recorded seven of those assists on her own which is above her average of three per game.
Coach Sallee talked about his team’s willingness to share the ball.
“We were willing passers,” said Sallee. “We share the ball at a really high level. We had 20 assists tonight. That’s tough to guard. I puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”
Tessa Towers and Bree Salenbien led the Cardinals in scoring against the Rockets. Towers recorded 17 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. Salenbien tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assist for the Cards.
Ball State rose to 12-4 overall and 4-0 in league play as they look forward to their next matchup with Buffalo at Worthen Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 14.
