Ball State women’s basketball was down in the first quarter. Down in the second quarter. Down in the third. Down in the fourth and down in overtime. 

The Cardinals fought regardless of the situation, head coach Brady Sallee said. 

The Ball State (21-7, 13-2 MAC) fight ended a two-game losing streak with a 60-58 overtime win against Central Michigan (12-15, 7-8 MAC). 

Sallee said this time of year the team that is willing to fight and never give up is a team that keeps on playing, and he said the fight he saw today from the Cardinals was “everything.” 

“Style points go out the door this time of year, and you just got to fight,” Sallee said. “Whether you get breaks, whether shots are dropping, it doesn't matter. You have to fight to win.”

Senior Ally Becki had been quiet all night for Ball State, with only six points up to the final possession the Cardinals had in overtime. Sallee said the final possession had many options, but it was going to be in Becki’s hands to do as she saw best, whether that was to make the pass or make the shot. 

Senior Lachelle Austin said Ball State was calm and collected in the nail-biting situation.  

With 33 seconds left in overtime, Becki nailed a mid-range jumper to give Ball State the lead. The senior had struggled all night from the field, and Sallee said he could tell she was frustrated until the final bucket went in.

“I hugged her at the end when she made that shot because you could see the relief,” Sallee said. “I said, ‘Hey kid, that's what big dogs do.’ They're willing to take the big ones, they're not scared of missing them. She took a big one, and it ended up being huge.”

Sallee said although the Cardinals struggled to keep Chippewas freshman Ayanna-Sarai Darrington from getting rebounds, senior Marie Kiefer was able to get after it. He said Kiefer understands how to win and knows she doesn't necessarily need the ball in her hands. She can impact the game with rebounds, blocks or sitting down to defend. 

“She does so much of the stuff you do not see that is all about winning,” Sallee said. 

Kiefer described her role as performing the intangibles for Ball State: getting blocks, diving for loose balls, fighting in the paint, facilitating, and more. She finished with a double-double of ten points, 16 rebounds, five blocks and a game-high 43 minutes played. 

During those 43 minutes, Kiefer had her hands full defending Darrington. 

Sallee said Darrington is one of the best rebounders the Cardinals have faced all year – even in Cardinals stout non-conference – Darrington is still in the elite conversion. She finished with 21 rebounds. 

Central Michigan is ranked No. 11 in the nation with an average of 15.8 offensive rebounds per game. Tonight, the Chippewas had 23 against the Cardinals. Sallee said Central Michigan is relentless. 

“You have to win before the ball hits the rim against them,” Sallee said. “If you wait till it hits the rim, you're in trouble.”

Graduate student Elise Stuck had not seen action for Ball State since Jan. 11, but Stuck returned for the Cardinals against the Chippewas.

Sallee said Stuck is still getting her “sea legs” under her, but she still made a huge impact in the game. He said her ability to shift the Chippewas defenders in multiple ways came up big. The head coach said he is not sure how this game would’ve gone without her since Ball State was calling her number and she was delivering. 

“Man, it was so good to have her back,” Sallee said. 

Austin said she learned from the two-game skid that she needed to get to the rim more often for her other teammates to succeed. Tonight she had 17 points and a majority of her buckets came within the paint. 

“This is a step into the way we wanted to go,” Austin said. “Coming off two losses, we knew we had to regroup, we had to learn from our two losses and get a win.”

Ball State will travel to Western Michigan March 1 to face the Broncos at 1 p.m. 

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

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