On Wednesday night, Ball State Women’s Basketball looked to keep their undefeated streak at home alive as Akron visited Worthen Arena for a Mid-American Conference (MAC) matchup.
After taking a big lead early, the Cardinals (16-4, 5-1) kept the pressure and defeated the Zips (13-5, 4-3) by a score of 89-66. Here are three takeaways from Ball State’s tenth home victory.
Early scoring run
Ball State started on a 14-0 run to start off the contest. In the first seven minutes and thirty seconds, the Cardinals went 7-14 (50%) from the field. In that same span, they went 3-5 (60%) from deep.
Akron started off completely different from the field as they missed their first seven shots. Even after knocking down a few shots, the Zips could not match Ball State’s momentum as they found themselves down 14 points to end the first quarter.
The Cardinals’ scoring success did not go dormant after the first quarter. It was a trend throughout the entire first half as the home team led by 21 points going into halftime.
Physical moments
One common theme throughout Ball State’s win was physicality. Multiple Cardinals hit the deck throughout the match, especially in the first half.
In one instance, sophomore guard Ally Becki had an awkward fall that resulted in her limping to the locker room. She returned to the court a few minutes later.
After that incident, head coach Brady Sallee let the official hear his complaint when sophomore forward Alex Richardson went down after a shot because of the contact. During the next timeout, Sallee went over and had a spirited conversation with the same official.
Keeping their foot on the gas
After leading for the entire contest, some may have thought Sallee’s squad would slow it down. But it was obvious that was not the game plan.
Ball State never changed pace as they dropped 43 points in the second half. Once the final buzzer screamed through the arena, the Cardinals had an impressive stat line. They finished with 40 rebounds (nine more than Akron), 23 assists (10 more than Akron) and had five scorers in double figures.
Leading the victorious Cardinals was sophomore Madelyn Bischoff with 20 points. Becki followed with 13 points and eight assists.
Contact Zach Carter with comments at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ZachCarter85
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