It had been over a week since the Ball State Cardinals (6-1) suffered their first loss of the season coming at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Sunday afternoon, they had an opportunity to get back in the win column.
In their 71-64 win over the St. Louis Billikens (4-5), Ball State had aspects of the game that went well for them and others that will need to get fixed as their non-conference schedule gets tougher. Here are three takeaways from their victory.
Revolving door in the post
Throughout the first month of the season, the Cardinals have gotten contributions in different games from all three of their post position players. Their starting lineup consisted of different variations of senior Annie Rauch and juniors Marie Keifer and Alex Richard. Each of them have had their bright spots this season, but Sunday was Richard’s turn to shine.
The first quarter featured sloppy play from both teams. While Keifer struggled with four turnovers in the opening period, Richard picked her up. Richard pulled down two offensive rebounds and went 2-for-3 from the field, scoring the Cardinals’ first four points from in close.
Ball State trailed 15-11 entering the second quarter. Within a minute and 16 seconds, that deficit was erased. Richard converted on a post touch on the right block for the first points of the quarter. On the next possession, she split at the free-throw line before making a basket off of a top-of-the-key-drive. She forced a Billiken timeout after a fast break layup to put the Cardinals up by three.
Rauch and Keifer came up huge in the 3rd quarter to get Ball State back in the game. Down 10 early in the period, Rauch had back-to-back layups. Later in the quarter with the Cardinals down two, Keifer used a post move to convert a layup and on the very next possession knocked down a three to give Ball State the lead. While it hasn’t always been smooth for the three of them so far this year, they all made important plays to contribute.
Three-point struggles
Coming into the matchup, the Cardinals had been shooting 36 percent from 3-point land on an average of 24 attempts. It’s been a weapon that players like juniors Alli Becki and especially Madelyn Bischoff have used to their advantage this year.
Sunday afternoon, the Cardinals couldn’t get one to fall.
Bischoff had been shooting north of 50 percent from 3-point range. In the first quarter, she shot 0-for-3 from downtown on a couple of decent looks. The only Cardinals to make a 3-pointer in the first half were Becki and junior Nyla Hampton.
The bench couldn’t provide much help in the department either. Sophomore Ana Barreto missed all four of her threes while sophomore Hana Mühl and senior Estel Puiggros couldn’t convert on their opportunities. The Cardinals were 2-for-14 (14 percent) from distance in the first half.
The Cardinals had 22 three-point attempts through three quarters. With the game tight in the fourth, they shot just four three-pointers. With the game tight, they made an adjustment to get better shots when the long ball wasn’t falling.
The Cardinals finished the game 6-for-26 (23 percent) from 3-point distance.
Big possessions late
The game was knotted at 51 entering the final period. After a Hampton turnover, St. Louis hit a three to take the lead. Hampton got her mistake back when she knocked down a wide-open three from the left corner, her second of the game.
Back-to-back “and-ones” by Keifer and Puiggros gave the Cardinals a three-point lead with 7:36 remaining. Two possessions later, Hampton received an outlet pass, went behind the back with the ball and finished with her right hand on the left side to stretch Ball State’s lead to five.
The Billikens wouldn’t go away. Down three with 3:25 to go, junior Tierra Simon stood at the free-throw line hoping to tie the game down just one. After she missed, Becki found Richard once again on the right block. She powered it up and put the lead back to three.
With the lead still at three after a Saint Louis score, the Cardinals had the ball with 45 seconds left. Hampton winded down the clock, received a screen from Becki and drove to the rim. She earned a trip to the line, converting both to make it a two-possession game with 20 seconds left.
The Cardinals let up just two points in the last 3:25 of the game. Getting stops on defense and running good offense on the other made for a huge road win for Ball State. They’ll have to do it again on the road Wednesday as they travel to Storrs, Connecticut to face off with the No. 11 ranked UConn Huskies with tip-off coming at 7 p.m.
Contact Caleb Zuver via email at cmzuver@bsu.edu or on X @zuves35.
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