In the Ball State women’s basketball team’s first Mid-American Conference game tonight against Miami (OH), the key word is familiarity.
There is a familiarity with the players, according to coach Brady Sallee.
“One of the great things about the MAC, is the players that play in it or the most part are from this region,“ Sallee said. “They’ve grown up in high school playing against each other. There’s so much that goes into every game from that standpoint that I think it creates a little stronger fire in your belly when you’re playing in the league.”
There is also a familiarity with Sallee to the conference.
Sallee was an assistant coach at Kent State, from 1996-2002, where he helped the Golden Flashes go 131-49. The team also won five MAC Championships during his tenure.
“I’m looking forward to making those trips again and looking forward to getting those rivalries,” Sallee said. “The thing with rivalries is we have to do our fair share of winning.“
Ball State has not done that as of late, as it has gone a combined 15-33 in the MAC in the past three seasons.
“I’m looking forward to [rivalries] starting sooner rather than later, and no better team to start with than Miami,” Sallee said.
Sallee said he missed playing against Mid-American opponents during his eight years at Eastern Illinois. He even tried to schedule MAC opponents to play against.
Eastern Illinois never played against Ball State during his time, but Sallee did face Toledo, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Miami over the years.
“We played a few of them in my time, I tried to schedule them,“ Sallee said. “I thought it was a good test for us. I had pretty good success. Hopefully one of these days we can get that going and have the same kind of success here. No better time than now.“
Sallee didn’t have success in the last time his team played against Miami (OH). In December 2009, his Eastern Illinois team lost to the Redhawks 85-78.
In that game, Sallee’s team held freshman guard Courtney Osborn was held to 11 points. She entered the game as Miami’s leading scorer, averaging 20 points per game.
Three seasons later, Osborn, now a senior, is still Miami’s leading scorer. She is averaging 17.8 points per game for the Redhawks.
Osborn was one of two players Sallee singled out for his team to focus on.
“Miami starts with Osborn, their point guard. But you quickly get concerned with [Kirsten] Olowinski, their big kid,” Sallee said. “Those two are going to keep me up at night, trying to figure out a gameplan to slow them down.“
Sallee also warned that “like most good teams, they’re more than just two players.“
Ball State played against Miami (OH) once last year at Oxford, and lost, 72-61.
“It’s clearly a tough matchup,” Sallee said. “The thing that worries me the most is probably rebounding. That’s been our Achilles’ heal. We’re going to have to rebound the ball against them. If they’re hurting us on the offensive boards it’s going to be a long night.“
In Ball State’s last game of this season, a 58-53 loss to Valparaiso, Sallee’s team was out-rebounded by 20.
However, Sallee thinks Ball State is prepared to face Miami (OH).
“I think our kids are ready. I think they feel good about the way they’ve practiced,” Sallee said. “We’ve made some changes in our practice habits and the things we’ve asked them to do and they’ve responded well.”
