Ball State (10-4, 2-0) has now won five of its last six games after beating its second straight Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponent in Central Michigan (4-9, 0-2).
The Cardinals handled Central Michigan with an electric second half after an up-and-down first half. Ball State came away with its second conference win in as many games and senior Ally Becki again led the way offensively with 20 points.
Here are three takeaways from the Cardinals’ win over the Chippewas.
Cardinals take advantage of Chippewas mistakes.
Coming into today’s contest, Central Michigan is leading the MAC in turnovers, and that number gew even more. Central Michigan committed 31 turnovers, with 18 in the first half. Ball State has exceptional numbers in turnover margin, at +3.1 per game and +13 today.
Not only did Central Michigan have trouble taking care of the ball on offense, they were unable to slow down the Cardinals in transition. Ball State scored 22 points off turnovers.
Ball State was in the bonus in the first quarter after five personal fouls from Central Michigan. Ball State again took advantage of Central Michigan’s foul woes in the second half, getting in the bonus with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter. The Cardinals did not waste opportunity, and shot 63.3% from the charity stripe.
Central Michigan struggled offensively, shooting just 38.9% from the field and was only 3-for-15 from deep. Ball State’s defense has been strong this season and is one of the top in the MAC. The Cardinals are top five in both average points allowed and total points allowed. The four points Central Michigan scored in the first was the lowest quarter total Ball State has given up this season.
Big first quarter masked by struggles in the second.
The first quarter was all Ball State, allowing the Cardinals to get out of the gates quick with a big 16-4 lead after just one period of play. Ball State is averaging 16.1 points in the first quarter this season and have scored at least 15 points in the first quarter of all but two of its wins.
Creating a 12-point lead after just one quarter was enough to maintain a large lead throughout the game. The lead got as big as 17, but Central Michigan was able to get it within five points at half-time. Ball State held the lead for the entire contest though.
Ball State’s hot start was slowed some in the second period. Turnovers and fouls riddled the second quarter and allowed Central Michigan to gain some ground after an otherwise efficient start. The half time lead sat at 27-22 though, with the Cardinals still leading Central Michigan.
Ball State was outscored 18-11 in the second quarter and shot the ball at 26% in the period. Overall, it was one of the sloppier quarters of play so far this season. Ball State took good shots, but found themselves late in their shot-clock and was 2-for-12 from deep.
Forcing 18 turnovers in the half, and only holding a five point lead was a concerning half-time stat to see. Although this was a concerning game to watch, MAC play is due for its mishaps and crazy games, and the Cardinals were able to stay on top of an overall sloppy game.
Gritty, defensive battle rewards Cardinals with the win.
Today saw Ball State play one of its grittier games of the season. The paint play was strong and Ball State utilized its size to pick on a smaller Chippewas lineup. The defense was strong from both sides, but the Chippewas made too many mistakes to keep up.
Ball State’s defense was lights out, forcing Central Michigan to take bad shots and create turnovers early in its offensive sets. The Chippewas were playing at a quick pace, weave style offense, but they were not able to perform it successfully.
Central Michigan looked out of sorts in the first half specifically and were moving faster than their offense could perform at. Central Michigan was the more aggressive team, especially in the first half. But, with playing as aggressive as they did, they coughed the ball up almost double the number the Cardinals gave up.
Ball State played a gritty game as well, with 26 points from the paint and senior Marie Kiefer had three blocks to add to her school record. The paint play made up for the struggles from deep where the Cardinals shot just 7-for-22.
Central Michigan out-rebounded the Cardinals 43-to-32 but Ball State put up 13 second-chance points while Central Michigan only scored four. Part of the rebounding woes were due to the foul trouble from Kiefer, who fouled out with five minutes to go, and graduate student Elise Stuck who spent time on the bench with four fouls in the second half.
Becki led the way offensively while senior Alex Richard scored 16 points in her second game back from a lower-body injury to aid the efforts. Freshman Grace Kingery continued to excel from deep with 11 points 3-for-11 shooting from beyond the arch.
Ball State stays at home in Worthen Arena for its next contest against Eastern Michigan, coming Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan.connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor
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