OXFORD, Ohio - Ball State women’s basketball beat Miami OH in its MAC (Mid-American Conference) opener 68-55.

Winning in the MAC is hard-fought, especially on the road. But with a strong defensive battle and a productive offense, Ball State came out with its first conference win behind a season-high 20 bench points.

Here are three takeaways.

Cardinals hit their stride with a productive second quarter.

After a slow start in the first quarter, Ball State outscored Miami 19-16 in the second quarter. In non-conference games, the second quarter was typically the most productive period for the Cardinals. They outscored opponents 259-157 coming into today and continued their trend of creating separation in the second quarter.

Ball State’s defensive efforts fueled that run, with 12 takeaways in the half and 15 points off turnovers. Senior Ally Becki had three steals and Ball State’s All-Time career blocks leader, senior Marie Kiefer, added two blocks.

Ball State led by six at the half but led by as many as 11 during the second quarter. Senior Lachelle Austin and Becki led the scorers with seven each. Graduate student Elise Stuck had six of her own. As a team, the Cardinals shot 11-for-31 from the field and 4-for-16 from deep.

Ball State’s defense visibly disoriented Miami throughout the quarter, forcing a shot-clock violation with 2:30 remaining in the half. Ball State’s full-court pressure made an already difficult effort even harder. Miami was unable to get much momentum on offense and the pressure from Becki on the Redhawks guards made it next to impossible to get into any offensive sets.

In the defensive battle, Ball State was able to hold stronger than Miami. The offensive attack played strong complementary basketball and if the Cardinals can continue to perform this way and play gritty basketball, they can be one of the toughest teams in the conference.

Ally Becki shows her dominance.

One of the pre-season favorites for MAC Player of the Year and a pre-season First Team pick, Ally Becki, showed why she is one of the top players in the conference.

After scoring just eight points against Ohio State, 10 against Northern Kentucky and 11 against Anderson, Becki picked back up the performances she had shown earlier this season. Becki led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and seven assists. She was also a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Becki led the way defensively as well, with four steals as well as nine rebounds.

Becki’s influence is felt far beyond her play on the court. Her experience and leadership are arguably just as important as her playing ability. Her ability to play nearly 40 minutes on any given night makes her one of the most important players in the conference and on the Ball State roster.

Becki could potentially win MAC Player of the Year, and if she continues to put up numbers like she did against Miami, there are very few better players on paper. Coming into today’s game, Becki was averaging 14 points per game and 33.3 minutes per game. She has started every game since she arrived on campus and has been one of the top players in the conference since then.

Kingery continues to blossom.

One of the most exciting players to watch in the last couple of weeks has been freshman Grace Kingery. Kingery broke out of her shell Dec. 10 at Ohio State where she scored a then-season-high eight points on 3-for-5 shooting and 2-for-4 from three in 22 minutes.

Kingery earned a starting nod at Northern Kentucky after senior Madelyn Bischoff was forced to sit out due to an injury. Kingery did not disappoint with a career-high 23 points. 8-for-17 from the field and 7-for-15 from deep in 34 minutes against the Norse. She added

She scored 13 points against Division 3 Anderson Dec. 19 to continue scoring in double digits. She was 5-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep in another impressive shooting performance. She played only 18 minutes in the blow-out win as all starters played limited minutes.

Against Miami today, Kingery scored 18 points on 5-for-9 from deep. She also had three blocks to lead the defensive efforts. She hit multiple contested shots and hit a big three in the fourth quarter to light a Ball State run to ice the game.

Kingery’s performance has been no surprise though. She holds multiple records at North Ridgeville High School, including the all-time scoring records for both the boy's and girl’s teams with 1,305 points. She also holds the record for most 3-pointers made in a season with 67 and most in a game with nine.

Head coach Brady Sallee and his staff knew they were getting one of the top prep shooters in Kingery and she has not disappointed since getting the opportunity to shine early in her career.

Although Ball State struggled at times offensively, it was still a conference-opening win, and winning gritty games in conference play is a positive outlook. Ball State will continue to settle into the MAC slate with a home contest against Central Michigan Jan. 4 at 1:00 p.m.

Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor

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