COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ball State women’s basketball freshman Grace Kingery is an Ohio native and an Ohio State fan.
So when the Cardinals took on No. 11 ranked Ohio State, Kingery had family and former coaches in attendance. The North Ridgeville, Ohio, native is just a mere two-hour drive from Columbus, Ohio.
“Playing in the state where I grew up, and being an Ohio State fan, it's pretty special,” Kingery said.
Just a year ago Kingery was playing in high school contests, but the freshman is now playing in Power 5 atmospheres against nationally ranked teams. She said games like today are the reason why she works so hard every day.
Sallee said he is proud of how Kingery and freshman Zuri Ransom played on a big stage. He also said the playing time and experience gained by the freshman will translate into the future. Kingery played 22 minutes against the Buckeyes, a career-high for her. Her eight points were also a career-high.
“It's these kinds of minutes against these kinds of teams [that matter],” Sallee said. “I'm not that good of a coach to give them that kind of experience.”
Alongside getting playing experience, Kingery said senior Elise Stuck has been a guiding hand in her adjustment to collegiate basketball.
“She has been guiding me and teaching me everything,” Kingery said. “Obviously, she's the fifth year so she knows everything.”
The Cardinals had 25 bench points against the Buckeyes, two more points than the starters. Sallee said he would love to see the bench continue to be consistent. He also added that the bench depth created mismatches for Ohio State, giving Ball State an advantage at times.
The bench was a big factor in today's game since senior Madelyn Bischoff went out with a wrist/arm injury just seconds into the game on the first possession.
Following the first Ohio State possession, the Buckeyes scored and put their full-court press into motion.
Sallee said the Ohio State press can constantly morph and change to what opponents are running, making it very difficult for any team to break through. He said the Buckeyes' size, speed and discipline mixed with great coaching made it even tougher.
“It is up there with the ones I played against in my career,” Sallee said about the Ohio State press.
Sallee said the level of competition faced in the non-conference is all a part of his “method to the madness.” The Cardinals have faced three Power 5 schools (two of them ranked), and multiple top-ranked mid-major programs in the nation.
He said the Cardinals have had to train at a certain level, and the trick is continuing to train at a high level when conference play comes around. Sallee specifically pointed out the Cardinals' physicality and toughness as keys that have to translate to the conference schedule.
“This is so good for us,” Sallee said.
Ball State has two remaining non-conference games this season and Sallee said he wants to see the Cardinals continue to play at an extremely high level.
“I want to go play at that level, with that physicality, and that toughness, and that's how I want this thing to look,” Sallee said. “...After ten games, after playing the teams we have played, we are going to be different.”
Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.
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