Ball State (11-4, 3-0) women’s basketball won its fifth straight game and third straight Mid-American Conference (MAC) game after routing Eastern Michigan (1-12, 0-3) 101-69.

The Cardinals cruised to their sixth win in their last seven games behind a 21-point showing from senior Alex Richard. Eastern Michigan held the lead after scoring the first two points of the game but lost it two minutes into the first quarter, and Ball State held it for the remaining 38 minutes.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Paint domination.

Ball State’s size was infamously the Achilles heel of what was an incredible 2023-24 team, and one of the biggest factors in the MAC tournament loss that all but ended the season and the team’s NCAA tournament hopes.

Head coach Brady Sallee and his staff kept that in mind last summer when on the recruiting trail. Known by now, the additions of graduate students Elise Stuck (6’1”) and Maliyah Johnson (6’3”) and junior Tessa Towers (6’5”) were three of Ball State’s biggest transfer gets. Add that to an already strong two-player punch in seniors Marie Kiefer (6’2”) and Alex Richard (6’1”); the Cardinals have filled in the hole they had in stat categories such as rebounds, blocks and paint points.

Ball State outscored Eastern Michigan 54-30 in the paint, 21 coming from Richard. Richard has been a mainstay for the Cardinals since her transfer from Butler three seasons ago. She is averaging a career-high 12.5 points per game in her final season in Muncie.

Richard has been excellent since returning from an eight-game hiatus due to a lower-body injury. Richard returned to the lineup against Miami (OH) Jan. 1 for her first game since getting injured Nov. 16 against Northern Iowa. Since returning to the lineup, Richard is averaging 12.0 points per game and is shooting 57.4% from the field.

Kiefer added 10 points of her own to contribute to the total with 10 rebounds. Stuck had 17 and Johnson, who has been a presence off the bench all season, added seven points. Towers contributed with two points in four minutes off the bench.

Ball State out-rebounded Eastern Michigan 41-27 and 18 second-chance points to Eastern Michigan’s 12.

Lights out defense.

The Cardinals have been a strong defensive team all season and their gritty style of play has been the M.O. over Sallee’s 13-year tenure. Those characteristics have not changed for this team.

They are forcing an average of 27.5 turnovers per game in MAC play and forced a season-high 31 turnovers Jan. 4 against Central Michigan. Ball State forced Eastern Michigan to cough up the ball 16 times tonight.

Not only are the Cardinals forcing a lot of turnovers, they are limiting their own mistakes. The turnover margin is in favor of Ball State at +11.0 in MAC play. Ball State has cleaned up its turnover numbers since conference play began and had 11 tonight.

To add salt to the wound, Ball State scored 22 points off turnovers and 20 fast-break points. The defense led to open transition opportunities and the Cardinals took advantage of most of them.

Eastern Michigan shot 23-for-52 from the field and dropped just 9-for-26 from deep. The Eagles have not wowed from the field this season, scoring an average of 59.8 points per game. The Cardinals' defense held leading scorer Sisi Eleko to 14 points while she has averaged 20.6.

‘Core Four’ continues to lead the way.

Although the ‘Core Four’ has only played one full game together this season, at least three of the four players have been heavy contributors in every game so far.

The first three games of the season saw the absence of senior Madelyn Bischoff due to a concussion. Then, the next eight saw Richard out with a lower-body injury, and now, Bischoff has been out since the opening minute of the Dec. 10 matchup at Ohio State with a wrist injury.

The only game with four of four players on the court at the same time was the Nov. 16 road win at Northern Iowa. In that contest, the four totaled for 46 of Ball State’s 76 points.

Tonight, the four — minus Bischoff — scored 46 of the points, with Richard leading the charge. Kiefer and Becki led the way defensively with one block and three steals respectively. Both have been sparks on the defensive end in their respective areas.

When, and if, Ball State can get the four back on the court at the same time, it will make an even bigger impact on games.

Since Richard’s return, Ball State has noticeably improved its paint play and the offense seems to run much smoother. Richard was a common denominator in all four of the losses this season including the Ohio State road loss where Bischoff missed most of the contest as well.

Although the paint play has continued to improve this season, the Cardinals have gotten themselves in foul trouble too often and it could have the potential to become a problem moving forward in conference play. Tonight, Kiefer fouled out and Stuck had three personal fouls.

This has been a recurring issue over the last few games, and if Kiefer cannot stay out of foul trouble when contesting shots, it could cause a lot of problems on both sides of the court. Still, though, she has been playing gritty basketball and put up a double-double tonight. Most of her fouls have come going for loose balls and contesting shots, but still something to keep an eye on.

Ball State plays at Buffalo (13-1, 2-1) Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. This contest is the first true conference road-test for the Cardinals against one of the pre-season MAC favorites.

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

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