Just four days after playing a career-tying 38 minutes against Evansville, junior guard Brandy Woody played 36 minutes in Ball State’s 70-62 loss to in-state rival Butler on Tuesday.
“I gave her double the rest than she had the other night,” Sallee said with a smile. “Honestly, Brandy didn’t want off the court ... I think Brandy was having a ball.”
Sallee also expressed his admiration for Woody’s toughness after the game, saying “Brandy Woody is one tough cat, Jack. You like kids like that on your team.”
Woody had a pair of threes to open the game, and ended with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Ball State trailed 37-30 just before halftime on a three-pointer that was banked in by Butler. The Cardinals then went on a 10-0 run off a halftime speech that “took a few years” off Sallee’s life.
After shooting just 28.3 percent from the field on Friday against Evansville, Ball State corrected itself and shot 44.6 percent against Butler.
Sallee said that was attributed to going into the gym and shooting. He also believed that missed free throws and defensive lapses probably cost Ball State the game.
In the last five minutes of the game, the Cardinals went 1-for-4 from the free-throw line. They ended up making just 7-of-15 shots from the foul stripe, while the Bulldogs made 12-of-14 of their free throws.
Sophomore Shelbie Justice said that Ball State played better in this year’s game against Butler than last year’s.
“Last year’s Butler game, that was just bad for all of us,” Justice said. “We just had more intensity in the second half.”
Justice ended the game with 10 points, all in the second half.
“In the beginning I was really nervous,” Justice said. “I always get pregame jitters. Once the game got going I settled down.”
Freshman Nathalie Fontaine was one rebound shy of a double-double Tuesday night, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just her second official collegiate game.
Throughout Friday’s game and the first half of Tuesday’s game, sophomore Brittany Carter was 1-for-9 from three-point range. She was more efficient in the second half on Tuesday, making 3-of-4 from long range. Carter finished with 10 points.
“It was all in my head to start,” Carter said of her early slump. “Finally hitting them tonight really got me going because I’ve been in the gym, I’ve been working. It was all in my head, just letting that thing fly.”
Ball State will attempt to get its first win of the season as it plays its first road match of the season this Saturday against Marshall at 5:30 p.m.
