by MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State women’s basketball found itself in unfamiliar territory Thursday evening: the loss column.
This came after the University of Chicago, Illinois (UIC) defeated the Cardinals in Worthen Arena 66-64, ending Ball State’s undefeated start to the 2025-26 season.
“I just think UIC from start to finish was the better team tonight,” Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said. “The real story of this one will be how we respond to it with the lessons that we learned and how we can get better from it.”
Ball State was already facing adversity, as leading scorer Bree Salenbien was out due to an injury she suffered in practice.
“Whether it’s a game or two games, we don’t know yet,” Sallee said. “I think the competitor in her wanted to play tonight. But the coach in me had to think of the big picture. In the past couple of days, it was really important that somebody do what was right for the kid. So we made sure we did that.”
The struggles for Ball State (5-1) began early, as they did not match the Flames’ (3-3) energy. After the Cardinals first three offensive possessions all ended in turnovers, the team finished the first half after giving the ball up 11 times.
Sallee said he’ll give UIC the ‘credit’ for that. But besides that, there were some positive signs for the Cardinals. Freshman guard Aniss Tagayi recorded eight points in the opening quarter to keep the them in the fight. Throw in some other solid first-half outings and a team-wide 50 percent shooting (13-26) performance, and the game was tied 30-30 at halftime.
“It wasn’t one of those peel-the-paint-off-the-wall type of days. We’re just so early in this thing,” Sallee said. “The biggest thing I said to them was, ‘We’re not above being in a close game. We’re not above being tied at half against a team that’s playing well. That’s fine, but now, what are we gonna do with it?”’
The second half did see some changes. For one, the Cardinals recorded their biggest lead of the game in the third quarter (48-40) following two 3-pointers from sophomore guard Grace Kingery. The other driving force was senior center Tessa Towers, who finished the loss with a double-double and game-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Overall, Ball State won the rebounding battle (37-31), recorded more assists (17-11) and scored more paint points (38-32)
But like the first half, the contest came down to the wire. With 2:05 remaining, the game was knotted at 60-60. Though the Cardinals converted on multiple scoring opportunities — Towers had four points in the final two minutes — they also missed a few shot attempts while the Flames did not.
This is also when foul calls played a factor, making the free-throw line a key component. But Ball State went 10-for-20 (50 percent) at the charity stripe while UIC finished 13-for-16 (81.3 percent).
“Our role help had to be better, [and] our communication had to be better,” Sallee said. “I think those things got better, and then they just took us off the bounce. [The referees] called the fouls, so you’ve got to deal with it. We just got to be better at guarding the ball, and they took advantage of that. That ended up being the story of the game.”
With two seconds left on the clock, Ball State had one final chance to tie the match and head into overtime. Though Towers had the look off the inbounds pass, her contested layup attempt cleared the basket, ending the game.
Though the final outcome came down to the final possessions, both Towers and Kingery said the Cardinals should have never let it get to that point.
“Most importantly, we could have come out and competed harder,” she said. “I felt like we didn’t start competing until the second half. We let them have that energy and take over every part. That tore us down.
Towers and Kingery — who finished with 13 points — have been here for more than one season, and they said former Ball State teams have shown them how to deal with a loss like this. But with the team having played just six games so far, Sallee said everyone will have to wait and see how they will respond.
“That’s the million-dollar question … I like this group a lot, but I don’t know,” Sallee said. “We’ve not been punched in the mouth yet, and we got that tonight. In the long run, humility’s a good thing. But what do we do with it? How do we change from it? That will be the big-picture story when it comes down to it … It’s about going and solving turn-by-turn that so-called Rubik’s Cube.”
Ball State will next head south as the Cardinals play in the Thanksgiving Tournament in Naples, Florida. Their first game will be Friday, Nov. 28, against the University of Pittsburgh at 1:15 p.m.
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu, zachcarter039@gmail.com or via X @ZachCarter85.
