Kent State started with an 11-4 lead against Ball State women’s basketball. Until it was gone. 

Ball State led Kent State 20-12 after a big run. Until that lead was gone too. 

The Cardinals even led the Golden Flashes 51-38 entering the fourth quarter. But sure enough, that lead was soon erased. 

In a game full of runs, Ball State (13-4, 5-0 MAC) defeated Kent State (10-7, 3-2 MAC) 66-57 to stay undefeated in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play. 

Ball State was knocked out of the 2024 MAC Tournament semifinals by Kent State and the two teams have split the past ten matchups 5-5. 

Head coach Brady Sallee said he knew what type of game it was going to be against Kent State before the ball was in the air. He said he knew how good the Golden Flashes were, so he was already focused on how his Cardinals were going to answer anything Kent State threw at them.

Sallee said he was not caught up in what team was making a run but was more focused on where to adjust or change. 

“It’s just basketball,” Sallee put simply. 

When Kent State tightened it to a three-point game in the fourth quarter, Sallee never called a timeout. 

“I tell them all the time, you can't play nervous, and I can't coach nervous,” Sallee said. “So I got a lot of confidence in my group, and I thought they answered the bell at a high, high level.” 

Senior Ally Becki said it could have been easy to get out of control when Kent State went on a run, but it was Ball State’s ability to play level-headed team basketball that proved to be the winner. 

“We're all in it for the same reason, we’re all in it for the same goal, and we're looking for the bigger picture,” Becki said. “You just stay calm in those situations and do what we do.”

Becki finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one steal. 

Sallee said the Cardinals have made their resiliency through injuries one of the team's characteristics. He said no matter who is on the floor, nobody will bat an eye. 

Part of that resiliency comes from dealing with injuries. Becki said the Cardinals are almost used to having to step up when someone gets injured because Ball State has had to deal with so many injuries. 

One of those injured was graduate student Elise Stuck. She was sidelined for the whole game due to injury, and Sallee said her injury changed the Ball State game plan. Sallee said Stuck wanted to play today, but was unable to. She will be seen by doctors tomorrow. 

Stuck was named the MAC Player of the Week due to her performances against Eastern Michigan and Buffalo.

“We’re lucky Maddie [Bischoff] is back, [so] we can plug an all-conference player in Elise’s place,” Sallee said. “But all the things that Elise does for us, we missed desperately today.”

Stuck is one of Ball State's main rebounding forces. The Cardinals were outrebounded 45-33 against Kent State and allowed 11 offensive rebounds. 

In a game full of runs senior Lachelle Austin stepped up to lead a run of her own in the third quarter. The senior scored ten points in the third frame to give Ball State a double-digit lead heading into the fourth. 

Sallee said Austin is the type of player who can flat-out take anything to the rim. In a game where it was hard to get anything started offensively, Austin’s skills were huge for Ball State, Sallee said.

Austin finished with 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting with three 3-pointers. She also had four assists, a steal and a block. 

The Cardinals are five games into the MAC schedule, and Becki is taking things personally. Even if it is the last team in the conference, she said everyone is gunning for Ball State. 

“Honestly, every game is kind of personal at this point,” Becki said. “It's just whoever's willing to go against us and [who will] go as hard as they can against us, because we're gonna bring our all.

“...We have to defend who we are and show them who we really are.”

Ball State will be back in Worthen Arena Jan. 18 to host Akron at 11:30 a.m.

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

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