Instead of his usual opening statement, Ball State women’s basketball head coach Brady Sallee kept it short. 

“Okay, well, we won.” 

Sallee said the Cardinals (10-4, 2-0 MAC) stunk in the 72-61 win over Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Central Michigan (4-9, 0-2 MAC). Regardless of another win on the season, Sallee saw the Chippewas compete harder. 

“We just stunk. I said it 100 times in the locker room. I don't know how else to put it,” Sallee said. “We just were no good.”

Senior Alex Richard, who is losing her voice, said it was the lack of hustle that showed up against the Chippewas. Sallee said Ball State played about how her shaky voice sounded. 

“I think it's just frustrating, but a lot of stuff was in our control,” Richard said. “...We're better than that.”

The Cardinals opened the game with a 16-4 lead, but a poor second quarter put Ball State in a tough position heading into halftime up 27-22.

Ball State only scored 11 points in the second quarter compared to the Chippewas' 18. The Cardinals shot 26.7 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from three. They coughed up five turnovers. They were outrebounded 12-5. They had zero bench points compared to Central Michigan's 11 and were outscored 10-6 in the paint. 

Senior Ally Becki said she could recall certain moments when the Chippewas out-toughed the Cardinals. The senior said shots are not always going to fall, but the Cardinals have to be better and not play down to the opponent's level. 

“We know we are better than that, we just did not play up to our potential today,” Becki said. 

Sallee said he knows the Cardinals will be fine, but results are just a measure of the by-products. He said results are never the goal, playing a certain way is more important to Ball State. 

Sallee said the Cardinals expect everybody's best test, and Central Michigan did just that. 

“They [can] come into a game like this in one of two ways, either wide-eyed and intimidated or with nothing to lose. And I thought they played loose,” Sallee said. “They played hard, [and] they competed.”

After a poor second-quarter performance, Ball State was able to turn the tables in the third frame. The Cardinals scored 24 points compared the the Chippewas 15, shot 58.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. Ball State also won the rebounding battle 10-9 in the quarter. 

Becki said the third-quarter push came from a “step-on-their-necks” mentality to pull ahead. She said staying disciplined and feeding the post was essential to keeping their lead. 

Becki scored 20 points against the Chippewas, marking another game with double-digit points. The senior has scored in double figures in every game this season except for two (ranked North Carolina and Ohio State).

She said she always tries to get her teammates involved as much as she is and wants to ensure she is always facilitating. 

“It's just trying to fit the role and play the role the right way,” Becki said.

Sallee said great basketball teams do not allow “stinkers” like Ball State did today, and that is the main thing he wants the Cardinals to take away from the win. He thought Ball State came into the game wanting it to be easy and reacted poorly when it proved it was not going to be easy. 

“As better teams come through here, [and] we go to their gyms, [a] night like that [is] going to get you beat,” Sallee said. 

Ball State will be back in action Jan. 8 to take on Eastern Michigan at 6:30 p.m. in Worthen Arena. 

Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.

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