Ball State women’s basketball beat Memphis 95-66 to extend its home-stand win streak to 3-0.
Ball State handled Memphis with first-half struggles but ran away with it in the second half. The defense shined, Ally Becki balled, and the Cardinals came away with a quality win that will look good on their resume come post-season time.
Here are three takeaways from tonight's game.
Becki triple-double leads the Cardinals on offense.
Senior Ally Becki posted a triple-double in the win over Memphis Wednesday. She had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists to boost the offensive attack.
Becki has led the way early this season for Ball State. She is leading the Cardinals in points with 34 heading into tonight. Becki is top 20 on the Ball State women’s basketball all-time leading scorers list, top three in assists, and top 25 in rebounds.
Becki played 33 minutes tonight which is not uncharted territory for head coach Brady Sallee’s centerpiece. She has averaged 33.5 minutes per game this season and 31.4 throughout her career. Having that kind of player in the lineup is a huge piece in making the NCAA tournament.
Becki shot 44 percent from the field and was 3-for-8 from three. She was also 50 percent from the free-throw line to compliment an already stellar performance.
Hard-nosed defense gets things going.
The Ball State defense forced 14 turnovers in the first half alone. That defense, along with the trademark full-court press, led to seven points off turnovers for the Cardinals.
On the defensive end in the first half, three Cardinals tallied a block and Becki had five steals. Becki plays a major role in the press defense the Cardinals run, forcing the majority of the Memphis turnovers.
Ball State held Memphis leading scorer, fifth-year Tilly Boler, to only eight points compared to the 16.0 she averages. Memphis scored just 27 first-half points which is the second lowest first-half total for the Tigers this season.
The second half was more of the same on defense for Ball State. Becki finished with seven steals and senior Marie Kiefer continued to excel with two blocks, inching her closer to the career blocks record.
The offense continues to roll.
Simply off of the eye test, the offense looks smoother when looking back to the game against Old Dominion last week. The ball flow was smoother and the offense ran under its leader, Becki.
The first half was not ideal for the Cardinals in terms of offensive production. At the break, they were 7-for-20 from the field and 1-for-9 from beyond the arc. They were able to out-rebound Memphis on the offensive end, 4-to-1.
Michigan graduate transfer Elise Stuck continued to impress on the offensive end with 20 points. Stuck has excelled from the field and was 8-for-12 tonight.
The offense took care of the ball, only coughing up eight turnovers. Leading to only eight points off turnovers for Memphis. Head coach Brady Sallee was pleased with the limited number of giveaways and the offensive production his team put on the floor.
Ball State will be back in action Nov. 16 with a road trip to the University of Northern Iowa. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor
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