Ball State women’s basketball opened the Battle 4 Atlantis with a hard-fought loss to UNC (University of North Carolina) Saturday. The Tar Heels came out on top 63-52 handing the first loss of the season to the Cardinals.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
Offensive production struggles without senior Alex Richard.
Ball State has used the second quarter to pull away in most of the games played this season. The Cardinals are outsourcing opponents 100-55 in the second quarter this season. Tonight was out of the ordinary due to the slow start they had in the first quarter.
Although Ball State outscored North Carolina 19-10 in the second, the first quarter went in favor of the Tar Heels 19-16. UNC took the lead with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter and never let off the gas. The deficit got as large as 11 for the Cardinals who have not trailed for extended minutes yet this season.
Senior Alex Richard was out due to an unspecified lower-body injury that occurred in practice this week. According to the radio broadcast, Richard was on the bench with crutches during the game. Richard is averaging 12.3 points per game, good for third best on the team, and is fresh off a season-high 18-point showing at the University of Northern Iowa last weekend.
To make matters worse, leading scorer senior Ally Becki only scored seven points and turned the ball over six times. All of this was out of the ordinary for Becki, who had also only coughed up nine turnovers coming into the game. Becki was 2-for-9 from the field and was an off-character 0-for-4 from deep. Bischoff picked up most of the load, scoring 19 points to lead all scorers.
Fellow senior Marie Kiefer recorded a season-high 13 points. Kiefer continued to dominate in the post without her teammate opposite her. Kiefer totaled seven rebounds and a steal in 35 minutes.
The loss of Richard tonight proved to be a difference-maker. Her presence in the paint and offensive production would have aided the efforts of the Cardinals as she typically does.
Foul trouble creates issues for the Cardinals.
The first half was riddled with foul trouble for multiple Cardinals. Three Cardinals had two fouls and all but two players tallied at least one in the opening half.
Senior Madelyn Bischoff and junior Tessa Towers were the only two players who tallied first-half minutes and did not commit a personal foul prior to half-time. Bischoff played 13 clean first-half minutes and scored eight points while doing so.
Graduate transfer MJ Johnson, who made her first start with Ball State against UNC, committed two quick personal fouls in the first half. Johnson only played two minutes in the first half due to quick foul trouble.
Johnson’s early foul trouble forced head coach Brady Sallee into his bench quicker than anticipated. Kiefer and Bischoff played higher minutes than usual to pick up for the hole left by Johnson. In doing so, Stuck also found herself in foul trouble with two personal fouls called in the first half alone.
Stuck fouled out with 7:47 left in the game and had an off night with only three points in 19 minutes on the floor. Stuck was 0-for-3 from deep and had two turnovers, something out of character for her.
An 8-0 run to cap the first-half sizzles out quickly.
Ball State went on an 8-0 scoring run to cap off the first half, cutting the North Carolina lead down to just six. That run saw a 6:10 time frame in which the Tar Heels did not record a field goal. North Carolina was 0 for its last 4 to end the half and it seemed the Cardinals had some momentum swing back their way.
All that wind in the sails was taken back by the end of the third quarter though. UNC led by 10 again as time ran out in the third and it took a 54-44 lead into the final period. Ball State was not able to cut it any closer than a nine-point deficit at the 8:17 mark of the fourth quarter.
Although momentum was on the side of Ball State heading into the break, that momentum did not stick. North Carolina continued to grow its lead and Ball State was unable to get much offensive production going in the final two periods.
North Carolina outscored Ball State 19-15 in the third quarter and 28-23 in the half. The high power and fast pace of the Tar Heels proved to be just enough to get past the Cardinals. The Ball State offense has not seen this little production yet this season, scoring an average of 80 points a game coming into tonight.
There are still two more games to be played in the Bahamas for the Cardinals after tonight’s loss though, with the first against the loser of Texas A&M and Villanova Sunday at 9 p.m. EST tomorrow.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.du or via X @_loganconnor
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