by MUNCIE, Ind.- The Ball State Cardinals took on the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City at Worthen Arena on Dec. 3. This matchup marked the ninth annual Field Trip Day at Ball State. The Cardinals entered this game 8-0 on Field Trip Day games.
Ball State jumped out early in this matchup. In the first half, the Cardinals embraced the big crowd they played in front of.
Ball State shot 20 three-point shots to set the tone in this game. Although they only made five of them, they heard each of those made baskets from the stands.
Ball State guard Bree Salenbien talked about playing in front of the big crowd.
“It’s so fun. It’s fun to get involved in the community and get them involved with what were doing,” said Salenbien.
Along with their scoring, Ball State’s defense forced 17 turnovers in the first half and scored 19 points off those turnovers. In the end, Ball State forced a total of 31 turnovers from Oakland City.
The Cardinals also pulled down 69 total rebounds as a team. That marks a program record for single-game team rebounds.
Ball State exceeded their assist average in the third quarter of this game. The Cardinals averaged 18.9 assists going into this matchup. They finished the game with 34 assists as a team.
Giorgia Gorini led the Cardinals in assists with eight followed by Karsyn Norman who had seven of her own.
Coach Sallee talked about his team’s playmaking ability today.
“It’s easy to have a ‘get mine’ mentality in a game like that,” said Sallee. ” Our kids continued to play the game the right way. It was good to see us, in this game, still play to the standard and still do what they’re coached to do.”
The Cardinals bench put up numbers against the Oaks. As a team, the Ball state bench put up 59 points.
Coach Sallee spoke about the play from his bench players’ performances and the development of the younger players on the roster.
“You’ve got Aniss (Tagayi) in the starting lineup who has become more of a defensive stopper for us,” explain Sallee.” We’re trying to get Zhen (Verburgt) back into the swing of things since she has come back. I think today is, hopefully, a good step in the right direction. I’m jacked about Gigi (Giorgia Gorini) and what I’m seeing from her.”
The Cardinals finish this game with a 119-34 win over Oakland City at home. Some of the key players from this game were Bree Salenbien , Karsyn Norman, Giorgia Gorini, and Grace Kingery.
Salenbien tallied 28 points and nine rebounds, Norman recorded nine rebounds with seven assists, Gorini had 12 points with eight assists, and Kingery added 16 points and three steals.
The Oaks fall to 1-9 for the year with their next game being against Alice Lloyd College at Oakland City.
The Cards rise to 8-1 for the year and 9-0 on Field Trip Day games. Their next meeting will be on the road with Davidson on Sunday, Dec. 7.
