It was a focus coming in to Wednesday’s game.
As the Ball State women’s basketball team prepared to host Bowling Green, it knew that speed would be key in the game. The Falcons were 13-2 coming into the game, and Ball State head coach Brady Sallee wanted to play at his own pace.
“Up on the whiteboard before the game was the word ‘tempo,’” Sallee said. “We knew the tempo we wanted to play at, and I thought it was definitely a very important part of the game.”
Late in the first half, Ball State began to use a full-court press look on defense. Sallee knew the Falcons’ most dangerous player is its point guard, Jillian Halfhill.
Halfhill finished the game with three personal fouls. Sallee wanted to use the tough defense to get her out of the game and control the tempo.
Ball State had won back-to-back Mid-American Conference games before Wednesday night. A win against the conference-leading Falcons would have been pivotal.
The 61-72 loss still served as a learning experience.
After junior guard Brittany Carter converted an and-one with about five minutes left in the game, and Ball State trailed by just four points. She was forced into running the point guard position after senior starter Brandy Woody got into foul trouble.
Carter said her own mistakes down the stretch hurt the team’s chances at winning.
“I know I had some key breakdowns at the end of the game that could’ve been those deciding plays,” she said. “Just those key breakdowns kind of hurt us going down the stretch.”
When it came to full-court pressure Sallee wanted to put the “pedal to the metal.”
“We were pulling out all of the stops tonight,” he said. “We had to make them shoot quick, and get possessions. It’s been effective for us in the right spot. That tempo is what’s important.”
Carter, too, was all in for the full-court pressure.
“I love pressing,” she said. “I love our blitz defense, just getting out and flying around really with no rules.”
Bowling Green played aggressive defense, as well. Sallee said the Falcons play aggressive defense around the perimeter. Ball State shot just 1-of-14 from three-point range on the night.
Carter, usually one of the team’s best shooters, finished 0-for-5 from deep. Freshman guard Jill Morrison struggled as well, shooting 0-for-3 on the night.
Sallee said one or two more three-pointers could have made the difference, but he expected the game to be close.
“That’s what this game should have been,” Sallee said. “It should have been two teams playing at a high level going blow to blow; they make big shots, we come down [and] make big shots.”
Despite falling to the Falcons, he was impressed with the progress coming from his team.
“The progress we’re making as a program is exciting for me,” Sallee said. “I think there’s a lot of great basketball coming out of this arena and these young ladies.”
He said the team is starting to realize just what they’re capable of out on the court.
But Sallee couldn’t help but feel for his team after a tough loss when he knew his team played its hardest.
“I hurt for my team,” he said. “That’s a disappointed locker room because I think [the team] played hard enough and followed that game plan as well as we could.”
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