Senior Alex Richard scored a career-high 33 points, hit her 1,000-point milestone in her collegiate career against Toledo and still felt somewhat dissatisfied. 

The senior would rather celebrate later, she was not all happy with the loss at hand. 

Ball State women’s basketball (20-6, 12-1) lost their first Mid-American Conference (MAC) game against Toledo (19-5, 10-3) 70-66. 

“Right now, I think we just need to focus on the loss and grow from that,” Richard said. “It's 1,000 points. I'll get to it when I get to it.”

Head coach Brady Sallee said it was not easy to call the game, but when Richard was playing so well, the Cardinals wanted to give her the ball in many different ways. The other Cardinals beside Richard shot 11-for-37 from the field at a 30 percent clip. Richard was 15-for-25 (65 percent). 

“She had a whale of a game and kept us in it, we just needed a little bit more tonight. But we fought,” Sallee said. 

Sallee said the Cardinals had some “off nights” on the floor and will need to break down the film to see how much of it was self-inflicted or caused by Toledo. 

Toledo was +11 in transition offense and Sallee said the Cardinals were lacking in their transition defense all night. The Cardinals also lost the points off of turnovers battle by six. Sallee said adding those two stats up and realizing Ball State had a chance to win should not have added up, but Richard was playing so well that she kept them in the game. 

The Cardinals and Rockets were tied heading into the fourth quarter, but Ball State had an uphill climb late since they were down and in foul trouble. Although the Cardinals knocked in a few buckets to keep it close, Toledo pulled away and won at the free-throw line. 

“[It’s] tough on the road not to have your ‘A’ game,” Sallee said.

The Ball State bench only had four points compared to Toledo's 18. Sallee said the Cardinals have full trust in their bench and said Ball State liked the experience of the five starters in the Toledo environment. 

Since Feb. 10, 2013, the Cardinals and Rockets have both won 14 games against each other. In recent years, the rivalry has often been a coin toss.

Sallee said the rivalry between Toledo and Ball State comes from the close games over the years. He said that anytime the two programs face off, it is a big game. 

The head coach also went on to say that the Cardinals are used to being the “Super Bowl” of opponents, and although some of those competitions can be tough, they are also very fun to be a part of. The Super Bowl mentality is something Ball State wears whenever they put on a jersey, Sallee said. 

“A lot of kids before this [team] have built it and helped build it [the program] to where it is,” Sallee said. “The kids we have right now are playing exceptionally, and if a team can get us, they should be excited.”

The Cardinals will face Kent State Feb. 22 at home at noon on ESPNU. Sallee said this matchup is classic February basketball. The Cardinals are fighting to stay in the No. 1 position in the MAC, so every single game late in the month matters that much more. 

“You gotta embrace the position you put yourself in and have fun playing on it in that spotlight,” Sallee said. 

Richard said the loss would be motivation heading into the matchup with the Golden Flashes. 

“I'm scared for who's going to play us next,” Richard said. “I think that it's a tough loss, but we're such a veteran and mature team, and we know how to move.”

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

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