Ball State Women’s Basketball (17-7, 9-3 MAC) closed out Mid-American Conference East play the right way. The Cardinals swept Buffalo (13-10, 4-8 MAC) in the season series after winning in convincing fashion 69-58.
The matchup was the last the Ball State will play against the MAC East Division in the 2019-20 regular season. The Cardinals finished 6-2 against East opponents.
Sophomore forward Thelma Dis Agustsdottir was on fire from the start of the contest and never slowed down, as she put on an offensive show.
“She was feeling it … She didn’t make many mistakes, she rebounded the ball for us, played a ton of minutes and she was just the best player on the floor,” head coach Brady Sallee said. “They had to scramble and chase, and she moved, and got herself open, and was hunting shots today and played like we know she is capable of, and we’re really proud of her.”
Agustsdottir was the anchor of the scoring in the first half, as she carried the load, putting up 14 points.
It was a back-and-forth game early on, but at the end of the second quarter, Ball State went on an 11-3 run to end the frame, which was sparked by Agustsdottir’s seven points in the run, giving the Cardinals a 32-25 lead heading into the break.
Buffalo made its own small run to open up the second half with a quick 5-0 run, but Ball State answered and outscored the Bulls 11-2.
Buffalo kept it close all the way to the third quarter, as the Cardinals went into the last quarter up 49-42, but the 3-point shooting from freshman guard Sydney Freeman and Agustsdottir was just too much for the Bulls.
Agustsdottir knocked down 6-of-7 from behind the arc, and she was 10-of-13 overall from the field, which led her to record her new career high in points, finishing with 26. Freeman cashed in on 2-of-3 attempts from deep and added 16 points. The two made all of the Cardinals’ eight 3-pointers in the contest.
The ball movement was key in the success of the Cardinal offense, as it kept the Bulls’ defense moving and led to open looks for Ball State, and it capitalized throughout. The Cardinals had 16 assists in the game as a team.
“Thelma and Sydney really shot the ball well, but if you look at what it takes to get those shots, the ball movement was really good today, which it had to be against their defense,” Sallee said. “There were crucial times where they were trying to trap us and turn us over, and we just got poised, and we stride stepped, found the open player, and threw a good pass and bombed shots.”
Overall, Ball State shot 43.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. It was a good day for the Cardinals offense, but the defensive play remained solid, and it caused Buffalo to struggle at times.
“Our defense is good enough, and we know if we can shoot 43 percent and 50 percent from the three, we are going to have a pretty good chance with the way that we are defending right now,” Sallee said. “It all came together today on the road against a really good team.”
The win over Buffalo marked Ball State’s fourth straight win. The Cardinals will be back in Worthen Arena Wednesday, as they look to extend their 6-0 MAC record at home against Northern Illinois.
Contact Daric Clemens with comments at diclemens@bsu.edu or on Twitter @DaricClemens.
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